Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office submitted
an initial Memorandum for the Foreign Affairs Committee enquiry
into Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism on 19
November 2001. This is an updated and more detailed version.
II. FCO'S ROLE
IN BUILDING
AND MAINTAINING
THE INTERNATIONAL
COALITION OF
STATES ENGAGED
IN THE
CAMPAIGN
2. Since 11 September the Foreign Office
and its posts have been actively engaged in the Government's intensive
efforts to promote international cooperation to create and sustain
the coalition against terrorism. Despite significant progress
in rolling back the Taleban in Afghanistan and a severe degradation
of the capability of the Al Qaida network, the immediate tasks
of closing down the organisation and bringing Usama Bin Laden
and his associates to justice remain to be completed. We will
continue to take action against the Taleban, because they have
sided with Al Qaida.
3. Condemnation by governments of the 11
September attacks has been virtually universal, as have been statements
of support for the fight against terrorism. At the UN, Security
Council Resolution 1368 made clear that those indirectly as well
as directly responsible must be held to account. Resolution 1373
imposed obligations on all states to suppress terrorist financing
and deny terrorists safe havens in which to operate. At NATO,
Article 5 was invoked on 2 October, the first such invocation
in the Organisation's history. In the EU, many practical and legal
measures are being taken to strengthen cooperation against terrorism.
The Organisation of American States has invoked the Rio Treaty
on Mutual Assistance. Statements have been made by the Commonwealth,
the G8, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation
Council, CARICOM, the Organisation of African Unity and the Association
of South East Asian Nations. The UK played an active role in promoting
the UN resolutions, the NATO decision, the EU programmes of action
and the Commonwealth and G8 statements.
4. Military assistance has been offered
by a wide range of countries. Some forty have made specific pledges
of equipment, troops or overflight facilities to the coalition
headquarters in CENTCOM. All NATO allies have pledged support
under Article 5: NATO joint assets such as AWACS and the Standing
Naval Force in the Mediterranean have been deployed. As well as
US and British troops, French troops have now been deployed to
the region. Canadian troops are ready to deploy if they are required
and Chancellor Schroeder has won a Bundestag vote to authorise
the deployment of German troops. Russia has agreed overflights
and offered Combat Search and Rescue support. Japan has taken
an important step in allowing its self-defence forces to play
a non-combat role in support of coalition activity. Other countries
that have made significant offers of assistance include Italy,
Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Romania. The
FCO have been active in encouraging a positive US response to
these offers by allies, especially our European partners.
5. But winning the military battle is only
one aspect of the coalition's objectives. Politically, we and
the international community are agreed on the need for an interim
administration followed by a new government in Afghanistan, which
should contain representatives of all ethnic groups. It should
respect the human rights of all the Afghan people, regardless
of gender, ethnicity or religion. It should cooperate fully in
international efforts to combat terrorism and illicit drug trafficking
within and from Afghanistan. It should facilitate the urgent delivery
of humanitarian assistance and the orderly return of refugees
and internally displaced persons. The UN should play, and is playing,
a central role in supporting the efforts of the Afghan people
to establish the interim administration urgently. These principles
are encapsulated in UNSCR 1378, which also encourages Member States
to support efforts to ensure the safety and security of areas
of Afghanistan no longer under Taleban control. The Foreign Secretary,
senior official emissaries (Paul Bergne and Robert Cooper) and
Posts have consistently promoted these key messages in their contacts
with relevant governments.
6. The FCO has been working to maintain
a consensus that has developed amongst Afghanistan's neighbours
and more widely to break the cycle of direct bilateral support
for client factions and interference within Afghanistan. The Foreign
Secretary reinforced these messages at the highest levels when
he met the Uzbek Foreign Minister in New York on 14 November and
when he visited Iran and Pakistan on 22-23 November. His efforts
have been backed up by regular contacts between FCO Posts and
their host governments in the region. All the neighbouring countries
recognise that it must be for the Afghans themselves to decide
their future.
7. Within the EU, Foreign Ministers have
agreed in the General Affairs Council that a Special EU Representative
for Afghanistan should be appointed. The Representative will co-ordinate
EU policy on the political process in Afghanistan and stay in
close touch with other key countries and organisations, especially
the UN.
8. The FCO has actively supported the work
of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Ambassador
Lakhdar Brahimi. The British Office in Kabul facilitated the participation
of the United Front delegation in the Bonn conference which opened
on 27 November, by arranging their transport on an RAF aircraft.
The conference has been an important first step in the domestic
political process, with each of the main ethnic groups represented.
Delegations have come from the United Front, the Cyprus Process,
the former king's Rome Process and the Pushtun groups in exile
in Pakistan. Three of the delegates were women. Two senior British
officials (Robert Cooper and Paul Bergne) attended the Bonn meeting
as observers.
9. The FCO opened the first national representation
in Kabul after the withdrawal of the Taliban. The British Office
is housed in part of our former Embassy premises and currently
headed by the Head of the FCO's South Asian Department, Stephen
Evans. Being on the ground, Mr Evans has been able to liaise directly
with key Afghan political figures. Opening the office has also
been an important signal to the Afghan people that political normality
is returning to Afghanistan, and that the UK is committed to Afghanistan's
future as a member of the international community.
10. A key part of the coalition's fight
against terrorism has been ensuring that accurate information
is available all over the world, especially in the light of Taleban
and Al Qaida-inspired misinformation. Coalition Information Centres
(CICs) have been established in London, Washington and Islamabad.
They coordinate the coalition's public communications about the
military, diplomatic and humanitarian aspects of the campaign
against terrorism. The FCO has made a major contribution to all
three CICs. The London CIC, led by the Prime Minister's Director
of Communications and Strategy (Alistair Campbell), is housed
within and partially staffed by the Foreign Office. A number of
coalition partners are represented in the London CIC. The UK has
representatives in the Washington and Islamabad CICs.
11. The FCO has established a dedicated
Islamic Opinion Unit whose aim is to strengthen support among
Muslims for the objectives of the campaign. The Unit draws on
in-house expertise in Islamic affairs, culture and media. The
strategy for conveying our message more effectively to an Islamic
audience involves developing links with the key Islamic media
services operating in the UK and overseas, providing them with
FCO spokesmen able to conduct interviews in the relevant languages,
and briefing third parties at one remove from government for additional
media appearances. The Unit has also liaised with the print media
over publication of interviews with and articles by Ministers
and prominent Muslim figures in the UK in support of the coalition's
aims. It has published and distributed leaflets in English, Arabic,
Farsi, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Turkish to explain the campaign
objectives to a Muslim audience both overseas and within the UK.
The Unit is working closely both with British missions overseas
to add value to their public diplomacy efforts and with the Home
Office on outreach to the Muslim community in the UK. We are sharing
our experience with other coalition governments, to strengthen
support for the campaign against terrorism more widely.
12. This crisis has shaken the international
political kaleidoscope and opened up new opportunities, which
we are seeking to develop. Russia is not only working closely
with the West against terrorism but also wants to come closer
to Western organisations such as NATO and the EU. At the Prime
Minister's direction, the FCO has developed ideas on how to promote
a new role for Russia in Euro-Atlantic security and her relationship
with NATO. The objective of this initiative is to involve Russia
in a broad range of NATO activity and to create new structures
which can increase Russia's sense of inclusion in the key European
security institutions. The Prime Minister wrote on 15 November
to Lord Robertson and NATO leaders proposing a relaunch of the
NATO/Russia relationship (including replacing the Permanent Joint
Council (PJC) with a new body) in which NATO would work together
with Russia at 20 rather than at 19 + 1. We are also actively
considering ideas for ensuring the further development of EU-Russia
links. China has not pressed its traditional position on non-interference
in internal affairs and is working constructively with the other
Permanent Members of the Security Council. Its objectives for
post-Taleban Afghanistan are close to ours. Pakistan's decision
to support the coalition was immensely important and has greatly
changed its relations with the West. The UK is in constant touch
with the Pakistani government at all levels from the Prime Minister
downwards, and is providing significant humanitarian and other
assistance. The Foreign Secretary visited Islamabad on 22 and
23 November. Our Post in Islamabad is a key asset for contacts
with Afghan parties and humanitarian agencies, as well as with
the Government of Pakistan. Iran has closed its borders to stop
terrorists escaping, though agreed to allow humanitarian assistance
through. The UK is maintaining an active dialogue with Iran, and
the Foreign Secretary has visited twice since 11 September.
13. The FCO, our Representation in Brussels
and other Government departments have taken a leading role in
the international effort to strengthen counter- terrorism measures
worldwide. We are working closely with our EU partners. Successive
meetings since 11 September of EU justice and home affairs ministers,
foreign ministers and heads of government have agreed the principal
elements of a plan of action against terrorism, including;
— a common definition of terrorist
offences;
— a Framework Agreement on freezing
assets and on evidence;
— increased co-operation between services
responsible for fighting terrorism;
— the early ratification by all member
states of the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing
of Terrorism; and a commitment to reinforcing national legislation
against financing terrorism;
— implementation by all member states
of UN Security Council Resolution 1373;
— reviewing relations with third countries
in the light of their performance against terrorism; and
— approval of Commission proposals
to improve air transport security.
We are taking a leading role in pushing for
progress on all these points at the European Council at Laeken
on 14 and 15 December.
14. The UN has been the primary forum for
building and consolidating global support for the war against
terrorism. The UK Permanent Representative in New York, Sir Jeremy
Greenstock, chairs the Counter Terrorism Committee set up under
UN Security Council Resolution 1373, which meets weekly. It is
now working to put in place measures to ensure that governments
live up to their obligations to suppress terrorist financing and
to deny terrorists a safe haven from which to operate. The key
element of the Committee's work is to require governments to explain
what they are doing in a number of specified areas, to ensure
that their policies and practices live up to the requirements
set out in UNSCR 1373. A secondary function may be to act as a
switchboard to match up requests for and offers of help in the
counter-terrorism field. Discussions also continue on the draft
UN Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism, although consensus has
still to be reached.
15. The FCO, in cooperation with HM Treasury,
have been particularly active in the G7 and G8, which are in various
formats seeking:
— to extend previously agreed recommendations
to combat money laundering to cover terrorist financing;
— to cooperate on financial sanctions,
on aviation security, on arms trafficking, on the links between
drugs and terrorism and on aviation and non-aviation security;
and
— to promote cooperation between counter-terrorism,
law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
16. G8 counter terrorism experts met on
18-20 November to take forward work on these aspects and on other
key aspects, notably:
— co-ordination of technical assistance
to enable third countries to live up to their obligations under
UN Security Council Resolution 1373;
— preliminary assessment of the threat
from chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear terrorism;
— enhanced contributions to ICAO's
aviation security mechanism; and
— further co-operative work against
false passports and documents.
17. The Financial Action Task Force, meeting
in Washington on 29-30 October, broadened its previous mandate
to deal with the proceeds of crime so that it now includes terrorist
finance. We are playing a leading role in the Task Force's continuing
work on new regulatory standards to combat the financing of terrorism.
III. THE FCO'S
ROLE IN
RECONSTRUCTING POST-TALEBAN
AFGHANISTAN
18. The FCO works in support of DFID over
humanitarian and reconstruction issues, where policy is evolving
fast. An international conference in Washington on 20 November,
attended by DFID and FCO, agreed to establish a Steering Group
to co-ordinate policy on reconstruction efforts. The next step
is a meeting in Brussels on 17 December in which the role of the
Steering Group will be fleshed out and discussion pursued on how
to take the process forward, including through liaison with the
Afghan Support Group (a grouping of major donors, the UN and NGOs).
Plans are already in place for a ministerial-level conference
in Tokyo in early 2002 which DFID and the FCO will attend.
19. Increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance
are now getting into Afghanistan. In the month to 16 November
WFP reached its target of 52, 000 mt (an amount sufficient for
5 million people for one month). However, WFP have now increased
their daily targets to 3000 mt to ensure that supplies are adequate
and that stockpiles can be maintained. As of 30 November, this
target was being met. WFP launched its first airbridge from Tajikistan
to Afghanistan on 23 November. This should allow for 2000 mt to
be delivered over the next few weeks. The availability of an aid
corridor from the Uzbek border to Mazar-e-Sharif is essential
to ensure that sufficient supplies reach the vulnerable eg in
the Central Highlands. The FCO and its posts are working alongside
the UN and others to facilitate the opening of the "Friendship
Bridge" at Termez.
20. We welcome the Secretary General's appointment
of UNDP as the agency designated to co-ordinate the international
reconstruction effort. DFID have set aside £1 million to
assist the work of Mr Brahimi and of the Integrated Mission Task
Force (IMTF, the UN body that draws together all strands of its
work on Afghanistan). This donation will enable the IMTF to work
with the Afghan diaspora, which contains a wealth of expertise
essential for the reconstruction of the country. DFID are also
supporting a proposal by the International Organisation for Migration
to identify qualified Afghans in the diaspora. Separately, the
FCO is considering projects for the future in areas such as drugs
control, human and women's rights, police training, media support,
support to local authorities/community organisations and demining.
21. This is only a small part of Britain's
total contribution to the humanitarian effort. DFID has set aside
£40 million for humanitarian responses to the current crisis.
Nearly half of this has already been allocated to the UN, Red
Cross and other agencies. This is on top of over £32 million
of humanitarian assistance given since 1997. DFID has also set
aside a further £11 million for the poorest communities in
Pakistan, especially those most directly affected by the influx
of refugees; and announced a £15million package to support
continuing reforms and efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis
in Pakistan. A paper by the Department for International Development
(DFID) on an emergency plan for the first 100 days of recovery
in Afghanistan is attached at Annex A[1].
IV. FCO'S ROLE
IN HELPING
TO RESOLVE
THE MIDDLE
EAST CONFLICT
AND OTHER
REGIONAL CONFLICTS
WHICH HAVE
A BEARING
ON THE
CAMPAIGN
22. If the political coalition is to remain
broad and be sustained, we need to make every effort to reinvigorate
the Middle East Peace Process, as the Prime Minister has repeatedly
made clear. The dispute between Israel and its Arab neighbours
remains the most destabilising issue in the Middle East, and will
fuel terrorism as long as it remains unresolved. Dissatisfaction
with stalemate in the peace process is one of the factors which
has, over time, created a climate in which desperation and extremism
have flourished. We have long been engaged in efforts to resolve
the crisis in the Occupied Territories and build a secure future
for the region. The events of 11 September have underlined the
need to make tangible progress soon. Tackling the Middle East
conflict is necessary on its own merits, but would also help dry
up a major source of terrorist recruitment and maintain the consensus
for action against international terrorism.
23. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary
have welcomed the speech made by Colin Powell on 19 November,
which set out the Bush Administration's approach to the MEPP.
Secretary of State Powell outlined a vision of a region where
two states, Israel and Palestine, live peacefully together within
secure and recognised borders. He reaffirmed that the only path
to such a goal is through negotiations on the basis of 'land for
peace' covering the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks. He
called on Israel to end settlement activity, and on the Palestinian
Authority to end terror and arrest and punish the perpetrators
of attacks.
24. We welcome the decision announced in
Secretary of State Powell's speech to send US envoys to the region.
Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns and Colin Powell's senior
adviser, former General Anthony Zinni, started their mission on
27 November. They will attempt to assist the parties to implement
both a cease-fire and the recommendations of the Mitchell report.
We will work closely with the US, and with our EU partners, to
reinvigorate the peace process and get it back on track.
25. We have called on Israel and the Palestinian
Authority to create the right environment, through their actions,
for the success of US diplomatic efforts. Both parties must take
all possible steps to end the violence, resume substantive dialogue
immediately and bring about the swift and full implementation
of the Mitchell Committee recommendations, which set out a road
back to the negotiating table. Israel must lift closures. The
Palestinian Authority must take concrete action to arrest and
detain cease-fire violators.
26. In the longer-term our goal is a solution
which embodies the two principles of Israeli security and a viable,
sovereign and independent Palestinian state: a comprehensive,
just and lasting settlement based on United Nations Security Council
Resolutions 242 and 338, the principle of 'land for peace', security
for Israel within recognised borders, and an end to occupation.
Such an outcome would be a major contribution to regional stability.
The characteristics of a viable Palestinian state might include
a high degree of territorial contiguity, responsibility for internal
security, and the development of a full range of institutions
necessary for effective governance.
27. We have continued to urge the parties
to work towards this goal. We have underlined the importance of
the Syrian and Lebanese tracks and the need for an agreement based
on the Security Council resolutions, and have reminded other Arab
countries of the contribution they can make by strongly and publicly
confirming their commitment to Israel's security within recognised
borders.
28. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary
have been fully engaged in sustained efforts to reinvigorate the
search for peace. The Prime Minister visited Egypt on 11 October
and travelled to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian
Authority between 30 October and 1 November. The Foreign Secretary
and Ben Bradshaw, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, have
also visited the region. We have concerted closely with the US,
whose leverage with the parties is essential to the success of
international efforts. We have co-ordinated our activity closely
with our EU partners, supporting the efforts of the EU High Representative
Javier Solana and EU Special Representative Miguel Moratinos.
The General Affairs council has called on the parties to resume
negotiations without preconditions. The Foreign Secretary and
his EU Ministerial colleagues have co-ordinated their visits in
an effort to maintain a constant presence in the region, encouraging
and pressing both parties to lift their view beyond the current
violence and focus on the need for political negotiations to create
a future free from bloodshed.
29. We will maintain our efforts. Making
progress will not be easy but remains very necessary. We have
worked to ensure leaders and public opinion in the Islamic world
understand that we are determined to address the obstacles to
sustained progress on the MEPP.
30. We have also focussed on the need to
reduce the levels of tension between India and Pakistan. Since
11 September, the Prime Minister has seen President Musharraf
and Prime Minister Vajpayee twice, the Foreign Secretary has met
President Musharraf and spoken to his Indian and Pakistani counterparts
on several occasions. There are encouraging signs that President
Musharraf has begun to clamp down on Pakistani based Kashmiri
militants and other pro-Taliban extremists. He has also unequivocally
condemned the 1 October terrorist attack in Srinagar. Although
there have been periodic exchanges of fire across the Line of
Control, the Indian and Pakistani sides have exercised restraint.
But a further terrorist outrage in Kashmir could seriously escalate
tensions. We continue to urge both parties to return to dialogue,
building on the July 2001 Agra Summit.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
3 December 2001
1 See page Ev 3. Back
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