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Sudan
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will call for a formal investigation by the appropriate UN authorities into allegations of chemical weapons used by the Government of Sudan against civilians. [137106]
Mr. Hain: These allegations relate to alleged attacks in Southern Sudan in late July 1999 by the Government of Sudan against rebel forces during the civil conflict in progress at the time. Samples from the sites of the alleged attacks have been analysed at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Porton Down for the most likely CW agents. The tests found no evidence that these agents had been used. We duly informed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of our results as the OPCW is recognised by the UN as the competent body for handling CW issues.
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Kadiatou Balde
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the British Embassy in Dakar has been informed of the decision of the Appeals Tribunal in the case of Kadiatou Balde from Guinea; and if she will be permitted to enter the UK. [137112]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 7 November 2000]: The British Embassy in Dakar has been informed of the decision. Kadiatou Balde will be able to obtain her visa from the Embassy today, provided that her circumstances have not changed.
Intergovernmental Conference
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if it is in the United Kingdom's national interest to relinquish the United Kingdom's veto on incentive measures in the cultural field at the forthcoming IGC; [137584]
- (2) if it is in the national interest to relinquish the United Kingdom's veto on proposals relating to social security for migrant workers at the forthcoming IGC; [137586]
(3) if it is in the United Kingdom's national interest to relinquish the veto on the establishment of European Union agencies at the forthcoming IGC. [137589]
Mr. Vaz: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 238W.
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is in the United Kingdom's national interest to relinquish the veto on proposals relating to social security at the forthcoming IGC. [137585]
Mr. Vaz: The Government have made it clear on numerous occasions that they will not relinquish the veto on social security.
Schools (Palestine)
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about when the Palestinian Authority plans to reopen schools in the areas under its jurisdiction. [R] [137498]
Mr. Hain: The Palestinian Authority reopened the majority of its schools, colleges and universities on 7 October. They had been closed from 29 September until 7 October for security reasons. Some establishments have remained closed because of continuing operational difficulties.
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority regarding the reopening of schools. [R] [137499]
Mr. Hain: Most schools were reopened on 7 October.
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received regarding the closure of Palestinian schools in recent weeks. [R] [137497]
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Mr. Hain: The Palestinian Authority closed all its schools, colleges and universities from 29 September until 7 October, when the majority reopened. Schools operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were closed for the same period. Some establishments remain closed because of the continuing operational difficulties.
Qualified Majority Voting
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list the issues that have been tabled by EU member states and the Commission for discussion at the IGC relating to qualified majority voting; [137897]
- (2) if he will list those areas of extension of qualified majority voting that are proposed by (a) EU member states and (b) EU bodies; [137966]
(3) further to his reply of 1 November 2000, Official Report, column 534-35W, on the Intergovernmental Conference, if he will list those minor issues not listed, but which are also on the agenda for the IGC. [137685]
Mr. Vaz: I refer the hon. Member to the website www.europa.eu.int, where he will find the official documents relating to the Intergovernmental Conference.
Lome Peace Accords
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 25 October 2000, Official Report, columns 145-46W, on the Lome Peace Accords, what the nature was of the close touch maintained. [137995]
Mr. Hain: Representatives of HMG were present throughout the Lome Peace negotiations as observers. British observers, along with other international representatives facilitating the negotiations, helped to maintain contact and dialogue between the parties, and between the parties and the Togolese Chair.
European Federation
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 1 November 2000, Official Report, column 557W, on European federation, which further powers (a) need to be transferred from the United Kingdom Parliament and (b) require QMV decision-making procedures to be applied, to fulfil his Department's policy objectives. [137684]
Mr. Vaz: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 238W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 2 November 2000, Official Report, column 557W, on European federation, if he will list those EU countries which share his policy objective. [137762]
Mr. Vaz: All EU Governments support a European Union which respects the national identities of its member states.
Iraq
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a
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statement on the Government's policy on the UN arrangements to ensure that goods imported into Iraq under the oil-for-food scheme are for the agreed purposes. [137680]
Mr. Hain: The UK Government does all it can to ensure that goods imported into Iraq under UNSCR 986 are used for agreed purposes. Our experts scrutinise all contracts carefully to ensure that they fall within the terms of the relevant UN resolutions. We frequently discuss monitoring of oil-for-food goods in Iraq with the office of Iraq programme and, where goods are of concern, ask for specific in-country monitoring. Of particular concern are goods identified by UNMOVIC as of potential use in weapons of mass destruction programmes. We continually call for the Iraqi regime to allow UNMOVIC into Iraq to verify Iraq's compliance with its obligation to halt its weapons of mass destruction programme.
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of children in Iraq who are chronically malnourished and the proportion of the total number of children this represents. [137682]
Mr. Hain: There are no reliable figures on child malnutrition in the centre and south of Iraq. Despite UN efforts, the Iraqi regime has refused to cooperate with a group of independent experts appointed by the UN to prepare a comprehensive report and analysis of the humanitarian situation in Iraq. In the meantime the UK continues to advocate and support initiatives through the oil-for-food programme to better target the UN's humanitarian effort to help the most vulnerable in Iraq. This has already improved the situation on the ground. In northern Iraq, for example, where the UN rather than Iraqi authorities run the humanitarian programme, infant mortality is now lower than before sanctions were imposed.
Zanzibar
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) first and (b) second elections in Zanzibar. [137940]
Mr. Hain: We have been following the situation in Zanzibar with concern. Commonwealth and other international observers were unanimous in their condemnation of the organisation of the elections on 29 October. We, with EU colleagues, criticised the decision to rerun the elections in only 16 constituencies and under the supervision of the current electoral commission in a statement issued on 3 November.
We will continue to press the Tanzanian authorities to find a solution to the political crisis that respects the democratic and human rights of all Zanzibaris.
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