An inquiry by the government-funded Medical Research Council concluded that "there is no unique Gulf War Syndrome", and also rejected a link between illnesses and the use of depleted uranium shells, according to the report.

Armed Forces Minister Lewis Moonie told the Sunday Telegraph: "This review shows there is no case to justify a separate Gulf War Syndrome."

But former soldiers poured scorn on the findings. Charles Plumridge, of the Gulf Veterans and Families Association, said: "He who pays the piper calls the tune."

The British government has never accepted the existence of Gulf War syndrome arising from the 1991 war that forced Iraq out of Kuwait.

This view has clashed with veterans' conviction that a range of physical and psychological ailments are connected to their service.

A range of possible explanations for Gulf War syndrome has been put forward, including exposure to depleted uranium munitions or the side-effects from the various vaccinations the servicemen were given.

Asked about the new study, Plumridge said: "It is exactly what we have come to expect from the MoD (ministry of defence) and government-funded research.

"If you look at the record of MoD over the last few years they have only funded research which comes out in their own favour."

The Medical Research Council report said: "There is no evidence from UK orientational research for a single syndrome related specifically to service in the Gulf."

The inquiry was launched last year after the defence ministry asked for expert advice and reviewed British and United States research on military veterans' illnesses.

In a separate case, British veterans from conflicts in the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and the Gulf who claim they were left traumatised by the horrors of war, on Wednesday lost a legal battle for compensation.

A High Court judge in London ruled against the veterans, many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and who had accused the defence ministry of failing to adequately care for them.

WAR.WIRE