The court upheld an earlier verdict in a case brought by a former soldier, which found that British troops suffered from an unspecified illness during the 1991 Gulf war.

Referring to the case brought by Shaun Rusling, the High Court judge ruled that he had shown "symptoms and signs of ill-defined conditions".

The specific ruling concerned whether Rusling, a former medical officer with a British paratroop unit, was entitled to a war pension.

The British pensions agency had originally turned down the request. Rusling sued and had his demand upheld in a lower court in May 2002.

The defense ministry appealed to the High Court, and even though it lost the case on Friday the ministry was quick to point out the ruling did not state with certainty that Gulf War Syndrome existed.

Gulf War Syndrome is a term popularly applied to a vast range of symptoms, from memory loss, chronic fatigue and dizziness to swollen joints, depression and lack of concentration.

About 100,000 US troops as well as thousands of British, Canadian and French troops who took part in the 1990-1991 operation against Iraq have reported one or more of these problems.

But the British government has refused to recognize its existence.

"The judge expresses no opinion on whether Gulf War Syndrome exists," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement Friday, stating that future cases would have to be considered on their individual merits.

"We accept that some Gulf veterans have become ill and that many veterans believe that this ill health is related to their Gulf experience. There is no medical or scientific consensus about the causes of this ill health."

Ailments linked to Gulf War syndrome include breathing difficulties, eczema and severe depression.

"I am elated," Rusling told reporters after the verdict. "It is a total vindication of all war veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome."

Veterans' groups on both sides of the Atlantic are convinced that a host of physical and psychological ailments are linked to military service during the 1991 war.

Some 45,000 British soldiers who served in the war were given wide-ranging vaccinations to help them cope with the possible effects of chemical or biological attack, which some doctors give as a reason for the host of symptoms the soldiers have displayed.

Last month, four British soldiers who have just returned from this year's war in Iraq threatened to sue the government, claiming they too were suffering from symptoms of Gulf War syndrome.

WAR.WIRE