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Restraints (Exports)

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his letter to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of 2 February concerning his investigation into allegations of a breach of the ban on the export of leg irons, if he will list those US authorities and their departments from whom he enlisted assistance; what form of record was written and to whom in the course of this assistance; and if he will place copies of this material in the Library. [112932]

Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 15 February 2000, Official Report, column 490W. We were grateful for the assistance of the US authorities, via the US Embassy in London, in helping us carry out investigations into the allegations in The Independent newspaper on 16 and 17 November. The US Embassy did not provide us with a written report.

We are not aware of any illegal conduct on the part of UK individuals or companies. Should any evidence be produced, we would of course pass it on to the appropriate investigative authorities.

Select Committees

Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which select committees, other than the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ministers in his Department have (a) submitted memorandums to and (b) appeared before in the present Parliament. [112403]

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Mr. Robin Cook: Our records show that in the present Parliament Ministers have submitted memorandums to the following Select Committees of the House of Commons:


Ministers have appeared before the



    Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs, and


    European Legislation/European Scrutiny Committees.

South Africa

Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations were made to the South African Government by Her Majesty's Government about (a) the visit to South Africa en route to Mozambique by members of Her Majesty's forces, (b) the arrangements for Her Majesty's forces personnel to leave the aircraft while at a South African airbase and (c) facilities to be provided for members of Her Majesty's forces to use while on this stopover in South Africa; what responses were received to such representations; and what reply was given to the South African response. [113923]

Mr. Hain: Our High Commissions in Pretoria and Maputo held extensive discussions with the South African and Mozambican authorities. I also spoke to President Mbeki's Legal Adviser. As a result, the South African Government agreed, with the approval of the Mozambican Government, that the British military team could use Hoedspruit as a rear base for its operation. We are grateful to the South African Government for the help they are giving to our team and I pay tribute to the fast and effective way in which they have responded to the disaster in Mozambique. Our teams are working closely together in the international relief effort.

Kosovo

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress made in implementing (a) Stage I and (b) Stage II of UNMIK's general strategy for Kosovo. [113876]

Mr. Vaz: UNSCR 1244, which established the international presences in Kosovo, gave the UN Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK) responsibility for: (i) performing basic civilian administrative functions; (ii) developing provisional institutions for democratic self-government; and (iii) transferring responsibilities to these provisional institutions.

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UNMIK has established a civil administration in Kosovo. It secured the agreement of the Kosovo Albanian leadership to participate in Joint Interim Administrative Structures (JIAS), integrating UNMIK administration with local participation. UNMIK hopes that the Kosovo Serbs will soon agree to join the JIAS. UNMIK plans to hold municipal elections in Kosovo later this year.

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in respect of each of the last eight months how many civilian police officers were requested by the head of UNMIK in Kosovo. [113872]

Mr. Hain: The UN Secretary General, who is responsible for making recommendations to the Security Council, requested in July 1999 that member states provide 3,110 police officers for the United Nations International Police. This request remained unchanged until November 1999 when the requirement was increased to 4,718.

Serbia

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political and security situation in southern Serbia. [113870]

Mr. Hain: The political and security situation within the Presevo Valley area of southern Serbia appears to be tense. Clashes have taken place between armed groups and Serbian security forces near the administrative border with Kosovo. KFOR have warned Kosovo Albanians not to export trouble and have tightened control of the boundary with Serbia. Compiling accurate information on the situation within Serbia has been obstructed by the FRY authorities, who refused to co-operate with a 3 March visit to the area by the EU Troika.

Iraq

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the amount of money the Iraqi authorities could have spent on the purchase of medicines since sanctions started. [114122]

Mr. Hain: Sanctions have never prohibited the import of medicines into Iraq. Under the UN's "oil for food" programme, which was first proposed in 1991 but rejected by the Iraqi government for five years, over $10 billion worth of revenue has been available for the purchase of humanitarian supplies. It is for the Government of Iraq to decide how it allocates that money between the various humanitarian sectors. It has chosen, for example, to allocate $10 million to purchase bank note counting

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machines under the current phase of the programme. The UN Secretary-General has refused to approve this allocation.

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to ensure that there is adequate medicine to allow Iraqi civilians to receive the treatment needed. [114119]

Mr. Hain: The Government have always worked closely with the UN to ensure that the humanitarian programme is as effective as possible in order to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people. SCR 1284, a UK initiative, contains a raft of measures to make the programme bigger and better, including the removal of the ceiling on the amount of oil Iraq can sell to purchase humanitarian goods. But the government of Iraq is ultimately responsible for deciding how that review is to be allocated. We urge the government of Iraq to take full advantage of the opportunities SCR 1284 offers, and to put the people's needs for food and medicines first when allocating revenue, rather than allocating millions of dollars for bank note counting machines, for example.

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received of medicine brought into Iraq since sanctions started which has not been used for ordinary Iraqi civilians. [114123]

Mr. Hain: We have received reports of widespread official and black-market abuse of medical goods supplied to Iraq under the "oil for food" programme. We are aware, for example that such medicines are being sold by pharmacies in countries neighbouring Iraq. We have passed this information to the UN for further investigation.

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's estimate of the number of children in Iraq who are likely to lack adequate medical treatment as a result of UN sanctions. [114121]

Mr. Hain: Sanctions have never prohibited the import of medicines into Iraq. While the international community has sought to maximise the relief available to the Iraqi people, the Government of Iraq has refused to put their welfare first. For example, the latest UN report notes that one quarter of all medical goods delivered to Iraq since the "oil for food" programme began have not been distributed. Under "oil for food" the Government of Iraq decides how much oil revenue will be allocated to purchase medical goods. The UN Secretary General has repeatedly observed that Iraq needs to give greater attention to the provision of basic pharmaceuticals, primary and preventive health-care services and material support for more effective distribution.