DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250350

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   27 lines

STUDY OF GULF WAR ILLNESSES DRAWING CRITICISM

A White House advisory committee is sharpening its criticism of the Pentagon's investigation into mysterious illnesses suffered by many Persian Gulf War veterans.

A draft of a final committee report to be presented to President Clinton by Oct. 31 says the Pentagon's credibility on this much-publicized issue is continuing to erode, people who have seen portions of the report said.

Bill Smith, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he could not discuss the specific language used in the report but characterized it as more critical than had emerged in earlier comments by panel members.

``That criticism is valid,'' Smith said.

The Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses has sent copies of the final draft to various interested parties, including veterans groups, to seek their comments before the report is presented to Clinton.

Gary Caruso, spokesman for the committee, said he could not comment on articles in Wednesday's editions of The Washington Post and the Birmingham (Ala.) News that contained direct quotations from the draft report. Caruso said the committee report would be in review for about a month.

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