---

Chechnya

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 9 February 1999, Official Report, columns 211-12, on Chechnya, how many rescue attempts were reported in respect of the hostages employed by Granger Telecom prior to 6 December 1998. [73256]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: Two Chechen clans linked to Chechen Telecom were reportedly searching for the hostages a week after the kidnap. The Chechen authorities announced that they were planning operations around 24 October to free all hostages in Chechnya, following an unproductive ultimatum to kidnappers. Similar Chechen

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 446

anti-kidnap operations were reported in late November 1998. On 25 November the Chechen Security Service claimed publicly that it had "operational information" on the hostages and was close to resolving the case.

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 26 January 1999, Official Report, column 212, on Chechnya, when his Department made contact with Granger Telecom following receipt of the Interfax report of 6 December 1998. [73254]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: FCO officials faxed a copy of the media report of 6 December to Granger Telecom, for information, before 1300 on Monday 7 December.

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 447

United Nations Payments

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to ensure that the United States of America pays its outstanding payments to the UN. [73252]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: Ministers and senior officials have raised UN finance with both the Administration and Congress, urging prompt payment of US arrears. The European Union has taken similar action. We continue to promote the EU's proposals for UN financial reform including tougher penalties for non-payment of UN dues.

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 448

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries owing payments to the UN, together with the amounts outstanding at 16 February. [73251]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: The most recent complete data published by the United Nations, as at 31 December 1998, shows 178 Member States with unpaid contributions, including 135 owing contributions from before the start of 1998 (our normal definition of arrears). Total outstanding contributions from Member States, including 1998 assessments, were $2,031 million. The details are given in the table.

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 447

Regular budget, international tribunals, and peace keeping operations combined--Outstanding contributions as at 31 December 1998

Member State	Pre 1998	1998	Total
United States of America	783,878,060	510,285,618	1,294,163,678
Ukraine	207,284,595	10,793,155	218,077,750
Russian Federation	125,938,478	7,311,045	133,249,523
Japan	0	98,379,789	98,379,789
Belarus	53,153,899	2,110,833	55,264,732
Brazil	27,218,622	19,449,061	46,667,683
Yugoslavia	14,308,804	769,274	15,078,078
Iraq	11,420,613	1,114,100	12,534,713
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	8,143,596	3,130,328	11,273,924
Argentina	288,000	9,793,615	10,081,615
Germany	0	9,362,249	9,362,249
Saudi Arabia	672,048	7,512,898	8,184,946
Georgia	6,422,921	740,949	7,163,870
Poland	6,793,858	134,315	6,928,173
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	5,561,625	375,374	5,936,999
Kazakhstan	4,847,286	958,195	5,805,481
France	0	4,947,253	4,947,253
Israel	1,004,279	3,863,382	4,867,661
Azerbaijan	4,140,008	135,895	4,275,903
Indonesia	2,264,880	1,692,154	3,957,034
Spain	0	3,878,454	3,878,454
Venezuela	726,898	2,870,959	3,597,857
Republic of Moldova	3,077,449	81,498	3,158,947
Peru	1,837,945	1,039,743	2,877,688
Latvia	2,592,256	103,179	2,695,435
Italy	0	2,692,674	2,692,674
Portugal	147,452	2,474,136	2,621,588
Tajikistan	2,470,391	103,053	2,573,444
Uzbekistan	2,370,934	110,187	2,481,121
United Arab Emirates	1,765,806	296,083	2,061,889
Croatia	1,886,813	109,335	1,996,148
Armenia	1,580,711	310,889	1,891,600
Turkey	1,067,089	666,568	1,733,657
Lithuania	1,046,067	520,234	1,566,301
Nigeria	1,402,832	161,086	1,563,918
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,436,710	64,734	1,501,444
Greece	382,852	942,628	1,325,480
Democratic P. R. of Korea	1,206,388	71,710	1,278,098
Kyrgyzstan	1,157,597	22,724	1,180,321
Turkmenistan	1,139,988	31,992	1,171,980
Liberia	1,095,854	26,222	1,122,076
Estonia	1,027,112	53,592	1,080,704
Chile	777,870	205,298	983,168
Somalia	948,057	12,196	960,253
Syrian Arab Republic	818,101	115,094	933,195
Bulgaria	817,501	89,236	906,737
Guatemala	614,493	233,819	848,312
Netherlands	0	790,791	790,791
Comoros	770,025	12,196	782,221
Austria	0	773,879	773,879
Qatar	635,162	67,009	702,171
Cuba	539,310	153,757	693,067
Ecuador	485,006	176,433	661,439
Philippines	6,707	572,958	579,665
Sao Tome and Principe	546,694	12,196	558,890
Belgium	0	546,342	546,342
South Africa	0	532,657	532,657
Dominican Republic	310,063	204,427	514,490
Congo	474,805	39,054	513,859
Romania	271,302	174,180	445,482
Guinea Bissau	416,322	12,196	428,518
Gabon	362,794	53,005	415,799
Algeria	163,124	252,468	415,592
Yemen	279,368	119,481	398,849
Sweden	0	379,040	379,040
Trinidad and Tobago	346,006	28,438	374,444
Cambodia	354,573	13,377	367,950
El Salvador	324,527	28,399	352,926
Nicaragua	311,951	25,975	337,926
Costa Rica	219,080	116,462	335,542
Afghanistan	280,140	47,827	327,967
Honduras	268,640	51,421	320,061
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	304,505	11,900	316,405
Guinea	279,132	36,038	315,170
Mongolia	292,106	18,202	310,308
Niger	286,173	24,107	310,280
Rwanda	286,141	23,984	310,125
Democratic Republic of the Congo	206,948	102,999	309,947
Vanuatu	287,408	12,196	299,604
Burundi	286,450	12,196	298,646
Dominica	286,153	12,196	298,349
Djibouti	286,136	12,196	298,332
Gambia	285,658	12,196	297,854
Sierra Leone	279,535	12,196	291,731
Central African Republic	266,714	23,984	290,698
Panama	244,080	33,348	277,428
Mauritania	264,974	12,196	277,170
Czech Republic	0	262,724	262,724
Sudan	155,397	103,564	258,961
Cameroon	76,549	179,787	256,336
Seychelles	232,118	24,107	256,225
Cape Verde	235,822	12,319	248,141
Togo	206,663	23,984	230,647
Vietnam	206,607	22,779	229,386
Madagascar	199,981	26,437	226,418
Lebanon	170,561	41,506	212,067
Tunisia	145,652	65,906	211,558
Haiti	186,211	24,107	210,318
Equatorial Guinea	196,967	1,394	198,361
Saint Vincent and Grenadines	169,587	12,196	181,783
Malaysia	0	181,673	181,673
Bolivia	171,591	5,626	177,217
Kuwait	0	163,829	163,829
Grenada	148,078	12,137	160,215
Luxembourg	0	155,711	155,711
Pakistan	48,327	101,590	149,917
Zimbabwe	39,573	104,975	144,548
Mali	139,749	4,367	144,116
Maldives	135,901	1,680	137,581
Swaziland	108,357	26,134	134,491
Burkina Faso	130,681	2,814	133,495
Lesotho	105,604	24,065	129,669
Senegal	104,181	8,694	112,875
New Zealand	0	110,127	110,127
Solomon Islands	108,462	1,658	110,120
Uruguay	264	107,335	107,599
Belize	104,361	1,680	106,041
Mauritius	0	100,897	100,897
Bahrain	76,260	23,837	100,097
Marshall Islands	87,125	2,736	89,861
Mexico	0	89,776	89,776
Oman	56,395	32,801	89,196
Antigua and Barbuda	60,474	24,065	84,539
Slovenia	18,159	65,922	84,081
Morocco	8,847	68,702	77,549
Kenya	54,531	15,673	70,204
Cote d'Ivoire	42,479	27,353	69,832
Bhutan	61,488	1,680	63,168
Saint Lucia	55,955	3,174	59,129
Papua New Guinea	43,091	9,283	52,374
Guyana	49,388	2,817	52,205
Chad	50,802	50	50,852
Brunei Darussalam	5,969	41,657	47,626
Ethiopia	34,551	9,548	44,099
Uganda	13,415	28,320	41,735
Barbados	20,117	17,916	38,033
Bahamas	15,394	21,282	36,676
Albania	23,169	7,374	30,543
India	0	30,172	30,172
Mozambique	23,644	2,910	26,554
Lao People's Democratic Republic	23,202	1,657	24,859
Samoa	20,354	1,680	22,034
Fiji	17,827	3,425	21,252
Myanmar	8,892	9,508	18,400
Jordan	2,127	15,417	17,544
Suriname	11,067	5,771	16,838
Malta	1,688	13,509	15,197
Thailand	0	15,085	15,085
Jamaica	1,712	12,782	14,494
Sri Lanka	0	14,364	14,364
Eritrea	5,849	2,241	8,090
Egypt	0	7,309	7,309
Namibia	736	5,868	6,604
Angola	0	5,176	5,176
San Marino	193	4,455	4,648
Cyprus	0	3,392	3,392
Palau	925	1,142	2,067
Andorra	0	1,989	1,989
Ghana	0	1,533	1,533
Botswana	0	1,481	1,481
Paraguay	0	1,394	1,394
United Republic of Tanzania	0	1,194	1,194
Australia	0	1,015	1,015
Zambia	0	808	808
Nepal	0	658	658
Malawi	0	571	571
Republic of Korea	0	509	509
Finland	0	426	426
Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	312	312
Micronesia	0	258	258
Ireland	0	206	206
Denmark	0	166	166
Benin	0	98	98
Norway	10	52	62
Hungary	0	58	58
Singapore	0	53	53
Iceland	0	23	23
Liechtenstein	0	1	1
Bangladesh	0	0	0
Canada	0	0	0
China	0	0	0
Colombia	0	0	0
Monaco	0	0	0
Slovakia	0	0	0
United Kingdom	0	0	0
Total	1,312,667,529	718,269,143	2,030,936,672

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 451

25 Feb 1999 : Column: 451

---