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British Council Budget

Miss Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to help the British Council to cover the costs involved in restructuring following reductions in its budget. [28722]

Mr. Hanley: The possibility of the Government helping the British Council with some of its restructuring costs is being looked at the context of the studies currently being carried out with the aim of avoiding overseas post closures.

Sudan

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent elections in Sudan. [28884]

Mr. Hanley: Regrettably, the elections did not offer the Sudanese people a full choice. The opposition, whose parties remain banned, refused to take part. Government candidates were thus given a clear run. Observers also reported a number of flaws in the election organisation and procedures.

13 May 1996 : Column: 360

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current state of relations between the United Kingdom and Sudan. [28883]

Mr. Hanley: Relations with Sudan remain cool. We are concerned at the Government of Sudan's prosecution of the civil war in Sudan, their appalling human rights record, their support to terrorist groups and their obstruction of the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan relief operation. The UK voted for, and will implement, UN Security Council resolution 1054, which imposes diplomatic and visa sanctions on the Government of Sudan for their failure to hand over three suspects implicated in last year's assassination attempt on President Mubarak of Egypt and their support for terrorist groups.

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sudan. [28885]

Mr. Hanley: We remain extremely concerned about human rights in Sudan. The continuing civil war in Sudan is a source of many serious abuses of human rights. We have received disturbing reports of slavery and genocide. The Sudanese authorities continue to detain activists without trial.

We welcome the Government of Sudan's agreement to resume co-operation with the UN special rapporteur, Gaspar Biro, and hope that they will facilitate his early visit to Sudan.

West Bank and Gaza Strip

Miss Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action his Department has taken to raise with the Israeli authorities the issue of access by international non-governmental organisation workers to the west bank and Gaza strip. [28721]

Mr. Hanley: We raised the specific cases of British non-governmental organisation workers with the Israeli authorities through our embassy in Tel Aviv. We also have pressed the Israeli Government at a senior level to relax the closure on the west bank and Gaza.

British Military Cemetery (Baghdad)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has had from the keeper of the British military cemetery in Baghdad about his need to grow vegetables to sustain his family within the cemetery grounds; and when the cemetery keeper was last paid by Her Majesty's Government. [27762]

Mr. Hanley: None. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the British military cemetery in Baghdad and for paying staff who work there.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the condition of the grave in the British military cemetery in Baghdad of the late Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude, commander of the metropolitan expeditionary force. [27766]

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Mr. Hanley: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the British military cemetery in Baghdad.

Food and Agriculture Organisation Report (Iraq)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evaluation he has made of the FAO report of 1995 on Iraq in relation to cereals, meat, fish and baby milk. [27763]

Mr. Hanley: We remain very concerned about the suffering of the Iraqi people. Our aid programme has a high priority, and we are working for implementation of UN Security Council resolution 986. We believe, though, that the 1995 report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme gave a seriously misleading picture of the situation in Iraq. The report did not take account of the misallocation of resources by the Iraqi regime. Further, the research methods were flawed--the statistics in the report were based in part on Iraqi data, which could not be independently confirmed. We have taken this up with the FAO and the WFP.

Sanctions (Iraq)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on UK policy to United Nations joint council resolution 986. [27765]

Mr. Hanley: We co-sponsored Security Council resolution 986 in April 1995 as a way of alleviating the suffering of the Iraqi people. The regime has since refused to co-operate. We hope that current discussions in New York will at last result in Iraq implementing the resolution. Meanwhile, UN sanctions must remain for as long as Saddam refuses to comply with Iraq's international obligations.

"Hundan Al Belgrano"

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from (a) his Department's officials in Argentina, (b) other sources in Argentina and (c) Sir Sandy Woodward about the showing of the film "Hundan Al Belgrano"; and what responses he has sent. [27809]

Mr. Hanley: I have received only one report, from our embassy in Buenos Aires, to the effect that the film is now showing in one cinema in Buenos Aires.

Salman Rushdie

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the work of the European Union delegation which visited Iran to discuss terrorism and the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. [27849]

Mr. Hanley: A European Union troika delegation visited Iran on 2 to 3 April 1996 to deliver a clear message on terrorism and the middle east peace process, as mandated by EU Foreign Ministers at their meeting in Palermo on 9 to 10 March 1996. The delegation received assurances that Iran would not interfere with, or sabotage, the peace process. Iran also reaffirmed its commitment to the "critical dialogue" with the EU.

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Hafey Dulkamoni

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the German Government about the impending release of Hafey Dulkamoni, a Syrian citizen. [27850]

Mr. Hanley: None. Any question of release is solely a matter for the German authorities.

German Trade (Iran)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the German Government to abandon trade relations with Iran. [27853]

Mr. David Davis: None.

Ali Fallahian

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the German Government about the guided tour given by the German intelligence chief, Bernd Schmidbauer, of the German intelligence headquarters at Wiesbaden, to Ali Fallahian, head of Iranian intelligence. [27854]

Mr. Hanley: The Iranian Intelligence Minister, Ali Fallahian, visited Germany as a guest of the German Government from 6 to 7 October 1993. The arrangements for the visit were a matter for the German Government. The right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd), then the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, expressed his concern to Foreign Minister Kinkel about the visit and about Iran's activities.

Russian Nuclear Submarines

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what protests Her Majesty's Government have made to the Russian Government about an operation to dump 20 elderly nuclear submarines at sea. [27855]

Mr. Hanley: No protest has been made. Media reports of such an operation have not been substantiated. At the Moscow nuclear safety and security summit on 20 April, President Yeltsin stated that Russia would formally accept in 1996 the 1993 amendment to the London convention 1972 banning the dumping at sea of all radioactive waste.

Clothing Costs (Royal Family)

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what costs were met by his Department for clothes worn by the Princess of Wales when she participated in the tour of Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 1986. [28923]

Mr. Rifkind: It is not possible to specify individual expenditure items for this visit, since detailed records for 1986 have been destroyed in line with Government accounting practice.

13 May 1996 : Column: 363

Mr Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has paid for clothes for members of the royal family undertaking official duties abroad in each of the last 10 years; and if he will identify the recipient in each case. [28922]

Mr. Rifkind: The information requested is no longer available in full, and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.

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