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Egypt
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has held with the Egyptian Government regarding the political representation of Christians. [108062]
Mr. Hain: When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Cairo in January this year, he met the Sheikh of Al Azar and Bishop Daniel as well as members of the Government, including the President. Interfaith issues were part of the discussions.
Congo
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the UK has to provide troops to a peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [108058]
Mr. Hain: The UK is providing six military liaison officers to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). The Security Council is considering the Secretary General's recommendations for a large UN observer force to monitor the ceasefire. We are ready, in principle, to support this force and are keeping under review what more we may be able to provide.
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what notifications from the Joint Military Committee and MONUC of breaches of the Lusaka ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo since its signing he has received; and how many of these ceasefire breaches involved Zimbabwean troops. [108057]
Mr. Hain: Since the signing of the Lusaka Agreement there have been allegations of ceasefire violations by both sides in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We strongly condemn all such violations.
We continue to urge the parties to report any ceasefire violations to the Joint Military Committee, which is mandated under the Lusaka Agreement to monitor compliance and resolve disputes.
At the open meeting of the Security Council on DRC in New York last week all parties reaffirmed their support for Lusaka and its principles and their commitment to its implementation.
Mr. McCabe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 20 January 2000, Official Report, column 580W, what sources of information, other than Iranian press reports, concerning the affiliations and roles of Globad Mansour-Beigi, Reza Molai and Ali-Hosseini, he has evaluated. [107954]
Mr. Hain:
The Iranian media reports referred to in my previous answer described the three people killed in the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq Organisation's attack on the town of Ilam as civilians. Whatever their affiliation, this was an act of terrorism, which I strongly condemn.
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Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Iranian Government on the position of women in Iran in relation to the report by the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights. [108148]
Mr. Hain:
We and our EU partners regularly raise with the Iranian authorities our concerns over a number of their human rights policies, including the situation of women in Iran. The EU sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution on human rights in Iran, adopted on 17 December, called for further action by the Iranian Government to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by women of their human rights.
The Special Rapporteur's report of September 1999 expressed concern over certain women's rights issues and also highlighted a number of improvements. He particularly welcomed the efforts of the Iranian President and other senior figures in the executive to press for a change in attitude towards women and women's issues. He also welcomed the greater participation of Iranian women in politics and higher education.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on persecution of Christians in Pakistan in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [107948]
Mr. Hain:
We have received a number of reports about the position of Christians in Pakistan and have raised our concerns with the Pakistani authorities. Our High Commission in Islamabad maintains a regular dialogue with Christian and human rights groups and the Pakistani authorities on this issue. Since the coup on 12 October 1999, General Musharraf has promised Pakistan's minorities that their rights would be respected and that they would be treated as equal citizens. We shall continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development peace initiative for Sudan. [108129]
Mr. Hain:
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the Sudan with his Egyptian counterpart on a number of occasions, most recently in Cairo on 20 January. Our objective is to see a comprehensive negotiated settlement in the interests of all Sudanese. We continue to support the IGAD initiative as the best vehicle for actioning this.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received concerning the displacement of Nuer from the area surrounding the oil fields in Southern Sudan. [108145]
Mr. Hain:
We are aware of reports of displacement of people in Upper Nile to places such as Bentiu and Yirol as a result of factional fighting. We expect to see further reports on this issue from a Canadian study which we understand may be published in the near future.
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 739W
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Taiwan on the economic consequences of the earthquake that took place last year in Taiwan. [108173]
Mr. Battle:
None. The British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei reports regularly on economic developments. The economic consequences of last September's earthquake have been comprehensively covered in the course of that reporting.
The human cost of the earthquake was severe and tragic. The United Kingdom joined many other members of the international community in contributing to the relief effort.
Economic dislocation proved to be less grave than the Taiwan authorities initially feared. Considering the magnitude of the tremor, infrastructural damage to industrial premises was relatively light, the bulk of lost industrial output being caused by disruption in power supplies. Economic indicators show that Taiwan's economic performance has now returned to at or near its pre-September level.
Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals there are to amend his Department's expenditure and running costs limit for 1999-2000. [108810]
Mr. Hain:
Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class VII Vote 1 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Expenditure limit for 1999-2000 will be increased by £5,157,000 from £1,171,240,000 to £1,176,397,000 and the running cost limit has been decreased by £32,614,000 from £530,968,000 to £498,354,000. The increase is the net effect of:
3 Feb 2000 : Column: 740W
(i) a decrease of £5,326,000 in respect of an adjustment for Overseas Price Movements;
(ii) a decrease in the running cost limit of £1,011,000, in respect of the cash limit breach for financial year 1998-99;
(iii) an increase of £2,000,000 in both capital expenditure and appropriations in-aid for FCO Estates Rationalisation;
(iv) a net decrease in the running costs limit of £5,238,000 and an increase in capital of £5,238,000, in respect of reclassification of certain items of current and capital expenditure in line with FCO's Resource Accounting policies;
(v) a transfer of £600,000 from the Home Office (Class 4, Vote 1), in respect of certain overseas drugs assistance programmes;
(vi) a transfer of £56,000 to the Home Office (Class IV, Vote 2), in respect of the Human Rights Project Fund;
(vii) a transfer of £100,000 from the Ministry of Defence (Class VI, Vote 1), in respect of their contribution to the grant-in-aid to the Atlantic Council of the UK;
(viii) a transfer of £750,000 to the Cabinet Office (Class XVII, Vote 2) for capital expenditure;
(ix) an increase in both running cost limit and in appropriations-in-aid of £25,000, in respect of Sales into Wider Markets;
(x) an increase in running cost receipts of £24,675,000 and an increase in running cost expenditure of £500,000, in respect of increased receipts from other Government Departments;
(xi) The Supplementary Estimate is also sought for additional provision of £40,070,000 on Section B for UK contributions to United Nations Missions in the former Yugoslavia (includes) UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) and the former Soviet Union, United Nations Special Commission on Iraq, United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission, United Nations Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara, United Nations Police Mission in Haiti, United Nations Mission in East Timor, United Nations Observer Mission in Angola, United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Central African Republic, United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone, United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Community Monitoring Mission and Western European Union Police Mission in Albania. This is partially offset by an increase of £4,800,000 in appropriations-in-aid in respect of non-baseline peacekeeping;
(xii) The Supplementary Estimate is also required to note an increase of £505,000 in Section D, in respect of an adjustment for Overseas Price Movements for the British Council.
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