---

Appearance Bail Guarantees

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in the last two years appearance bail guarantees have been given by the British Embassy to the Saudi authorities in respect of Britons detained in that country. [126250]

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 316W

Mr. Hain: The British Embassy in Riyadh has given no appearance guarantees on behalf of Britons detained in Saudi Arabia during the past two years. A locally engaged member of staff gave his personal guarantee on one occasion on 8 December 1999 to enable a British Citizen to be released from prison. This was a personal act on the part of the individual and not an official act by the Embassy.

United Nations (Preventive Diplomacy)

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the United Kingdom's financial contribution to the UN was in each of the last five years; and what proportion of this was spent on preventative diplomacy. [126249]

Mr. Hain: The United Kingdom's total financial contribution (ie comprising total assessed contributions and total voluntary contributions) to the United Nations organisations and peacekeeping for the calendar years 1994 to 1998 has been:

	£
1994	304,969,947
1995	328,855,981
1996	304,577,521
1997	309,260,413
1998	330,058,906

A breakdown of these totals appears in the Departmental Reports of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1995 to 2000, copies of which are in the Library of the House.

Due to difficulties in extracting from the overall budget figures which may be attributed to preventive diplomacy, the United Nations Secretariat has been unable to estimate the proportion of UK contributions that has been spent in this area.

Coptic Christians

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Egyptian authorities about the rights under Egyptian law of the Coptic Christian minority. [126492]

Mr. Hain: The Egyptian Constitution provides for equal public rights and duties without discrimination because of religion or creed and guarantees the freedom of belief.

We regularly discuss inter-faith issues with the Egyptian authorities; indeed this was one of the focuses of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's discussions when he visited Cairo in January this year.

Kashmir

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Governments of India and Pakistan on Kashmir; and if he will make a statement. [126849]

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 317W

Mr. Hain: We regularly raise the issue of Kashmir with the Governments of India and Pakistan. Both Governments are well aware of our concerns over human rights and external support for terrorism in Kashmir. We have also made clear our view that progress on the issue will only be made through dialogue. Most recently, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State discussed Kashmir with the Indian Government during his visit to India in April.

Sierra Leone

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the (a) powers and (b) resources made available to the Chairman of the Board of the Commission for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction and Development under the Lome Agreement; and what assessment he has made of the relationship between that appointment and the funding of the Revolutionary United Front. [126889]

Mr. Hain: The Commission for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction and Development was created to help the Government of Sierra Leone exercise full control of the exploitation of gold, diamonds and other resources for the benefit of the people of Sierra Leone.

Under the Lome Peace Agreement, the Chairmanship of the Commission was offered to the leader of the Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh. The Board of the Commission was to comprise two representatives of the Government of Sierra Leone, two from the Revolutionary United Front party, three representatives from civil society, and two representatives from other political parties appointed by Parliament.

Under its bilateral aid programme, the Department for International Development provided the Commission with three Land Rover vehicles, a computer, some office equipment, a satellite telephone and some items of furniture.

We have seen no evidence that any funds which may have been provided to the Commission were used by the Revolutionary United Front party, or that Sankoh's position as Chair of the Commission gave him access to new sources of funding for the Revolutionary United Front.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what training of Revolutionary United Front officials took place as a result of Article III of the Lome Peace Agreement; and if he will make a statement. [126885]

Mr. Hain: Article III of the Lome Peace Agreement provides for the transformation of the Revolutionary United Front into a political party, and for training for the RUF in party organisation and functions, in order for it to enter the democratic process in Sierra Leone. No training of officials of the Revolutionary United Front has yet taken place. The holding of free and fair democratic elections remains an essential part of Sierra Leone's efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he made (a) to and (b) via the Commonwealth Secretariat

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 318W

regarding the release of prisoners and award of amnesty during the period of negotiations of the Lome Peace Agreement on Sierra Leone. [126891]

Mr. Hain: We remained in regular touch with the Commonwealth Secretariat throughout the Lome peace negotiations.

The Commonwealth is one of several international moral guarantors of the Lome Peace Agreement.

FCO Management Board

Ms Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on new appointments to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Management Board. [127854]

Mr. Robin Cook: The Board of Management is chaired by the Permanent Under-Secretary and oversees the administration of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and all its resources at home and overseas. It has in the past been composed of Senior FCO officials together with the Chief Executive of British Trade International. They will now be joined by two non-executive members, Mr. Alan Gormly, Chairman of BPB Industries, and Ms Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Director of Corporate Affairs of Tesco plc. I am sure that the Board will benefit greatly from their experience of private sector management practice.

DEFENCE

SA80

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of the programme to make modifications to the SA80; when he plans to award a contract; if the modifications will be carried out in the United Kingdom; what is the value of contracts to modify the SA80; how many SA80 rifles have been modified to date to correct identified faults; and when the planned modification work to the SA80 will be complete. [126425]

Mr. Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current status is of the upgrade programme for the SA80 and the LSW. [127324]

Dr. Moonie: The SA80 is an effective weapon system, we plan to retain in service until 2020. There has, however, been concern expressed over its reliability in certain circumstances. We therefore commissioned Heckler and Koch (H&K), a subsidiary of Royal Ordnance, to assess its reliability and to design potential modifications. H&K identified a number of design problems that affected the weapon's performance, especially in extremes of climate. Their proposed modifications were subjected to extensive trails in Alaska and Kuwait. The final report from H&K demonstrated that significant improvements in the reliability of the SA80 could be achieved to make this weapon system among the best in the world.

Having considered all options, including the procurement of a new weapon system, we have concluded that the modification of the SA80 represents the most cost effective solution to the provision of reliable weapons in all climatic conditions. The Secretary of State has,

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 319W

therefore, approved, subject to satisfactory contractual negotiations, the award of a contract to H&K to modify some 200,000 SA80 weapons, including both the Individual Weapon and the Light Support Weapon. The overall cost of the modification programme is estimated at around £80 million, taking account of the cost of trials and support. The contract will provide for numbers to be varied, up or down, as our assessment of the overall final requirement for modified weapons evolves over the next few years.

We will apply the principles of Smart Procurement to achieve the earliest possible in-service date. The first modified weapons will be produced next January, with a total of 22,000 weapons to be delivered by the end of next year. The modified weapons will be subject to a rigorous testing and acceptance programme in the hands of troops to ensure that the production weapons are both effective and reliable.

The Ministry of Defence is exploring with the company the scope to maximise the number of UK jobs involved in the modification programme. Early indications are that work on the stripping and refurbishment of weapons prior to modification will be done in the UK. The modifications

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 320W

package itself was designed by H&K at Oberndorf in Germany and it is likely to make sense to conduct most of the modification work there.

---