Memorandum submitted by the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
ARTICLES REGARDING USE OF BRITISH MADE CROSSBOWS
BY SERBS IN KOSOVO AND KLA WEAPONS ON SALE IN BRITAIN
Thank you for your letter of 8 September about
the Kosovo press articles of 8 August from the Sunday Times
and 16 August from The Independent. As we discussed on
the telephone this morning, the Department thought that, rather
than incorporate our answers to these two specific points in our
memorandum on Kosovo, which will cover the history of the crisis
as a whole, it would be more appropriate to reply independently
to your letter.
BRITISH-MADE
CROSSBOWS
The goods on which the UK imposes export controls
are based on lists agreed in international organisations or fora
of which the UK is a member (the Wassenaar Arrangement, the non-proliferation
regimes and the EU). Crossbows do not appear on any of these multilaterally-agreed
lists, nor does the UK impose national controls on the export
of crossbows. As a result there are no controls on the export
of crossbows from the UK to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
or to any other destination.
We are considering, in the light of the Sunday
Times article, whether it would be feasible or desirable to
bring the export of crossbows under control. As with all such
decisions, we will have to take into account our preference, wherever
possible, for miltilaterally-agreed export controls, in order
to make it more difficult for undesirable end-users to acquire
the goods in question and to avoid unilaterally disadvantaging
British exporters.
Any decisions will be announced in the normal
way, including to Parliament.
KLA WEAPONS ON
SALE IN
BRITAIN
Any increase in the availability of weapons
on the streets of Britain is a matter of concern. Following reports
about KLA weapons being on sale in Britain, there are investigations
underway. For obvious security reasons we cannot disclose the
details.
The Committee will also want to be aware that
we are working with our EU and other partners to step up efforts
to tackle organised criminal activity in and around Kosovo.
| 
