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Nigeria

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Nigeria's development of nuclear ballistic missiles. [152852]

Mr. MacShane: The Government is concerned at reports of Nigerian interest in procuring ballistic missiles and associated technology. We have made our concerns known to the Nigerian Government. With our partners, we continue to work towards halting the proliferation of such weapons and programmes.

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North Korea

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to North Korea about human rights. [153071]

Mr. Rammell: We are very concerned about reports of serious human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and raise the issue regularly with the DPRK authorities. We encourage DPRK to comply with the recommendations set out in the Resolution adopted at last year's UN Commission on Human Rights. Most recently, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials raised human rights with DPRK diplomats on 2 February.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit North Korea. [153072]

Mr. Rammell: Foreign engagements for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are kept under constant review. It is not practice to announce such visits until they are firm. Because of the unpredictable nature of world events, final decisions on overseas visits are often not possible until very shortly before the day of travel and occasionally not until they are under way.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of North Korea about their (a) ownership and (b) testing of (i) chemical and (ii) biological weapons. [153994]

Mr. Rammell: As a State Party to the Biological Weapons Convention, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is obliged to comply with the ban on developing, testing and stockpiling biological and toxin weapons. DPRK is not a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, but the EU has recently urged all non-signatories, including DPRK, to accede immediately. We have also recently raised reports of chemical testing on DPRK prisoners with DPRK Embassy officials. We are committed to combating the proliferation of WMD wherever it may occur, and will continue to urge the DPRK to comply with its international obligations.

Pakistan

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Pakistan about the recent revelations by Abdul Qadeer Khan on his disclosure of nuclear weapons secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. [154375]

Mr. Rammell: There has, so far, not been any appropriate opportunity for any detailed discussion of this issue with the Government of Pakistan.

We welcome assurances given by the President and the Government of Pakistan that Pakistan will not be involved in any proliferation of nuclear weapons technology.

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Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the announcement by Abdul Qadeer Khan that he has passed on nuclear weapons technology. [154376]

Mr. Rammell: The Government condemns the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology from any source.

We welcome the fact that this route for the proliferation of nuclear technology suitable for the production of fissile material has been closed off. Government counter-proliferation experts continue to assess the impact of Dr. Khan's announcement.

Sudan

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the human rights situation in the Sudan. [153993]

Mr. Mullin: We monitor closely the human rights situation in Sudan. The application of "Hudud" (amputation) punishments and suppression of freedom of the press are issues that we raise regularly with the government. But we are also particularly concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Darfur, western Sudan, where fighting continues.

The promotion of human rights through advocacy with the government and support for Non Governmental Organisations remains one of our priorities. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development discussed the human rights situation with the President of Sudan and others during his visit to Khartoum on 10 December 2003.

Uganda

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the situation in Uganda; what recent representations he has made with regard to (a) the pace of democratisation and the introduction of multi party democracy, (b) the need for a political solution to the war against the Lord's Resistance Army, (c) ending the use of child soldiers, (d) ending the use of illegal detention centres, (e) ending the use of special military tribunals to try civilian opponents of the Government, (f) ending Uganda's role in training and arming militia armies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the internal tribal militias and (g) bringing State security organisations under parliamentary supervision; and if he will make a statement. [153523]

Mr. Mullin: We are encouraging the Government of Uganda to open up political space and look forward to publication of the Constitutional Review Commission's recommendations for political change.

We regularly urge President Museveni to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). We deeply deplore the use of child soldiers by the LRA. We are also concerned at UN reports that the Ugandan army has been recruiting underage soldiers. We have recently raised this issue with senior army commanders.

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We are aware of reports of incidences of arbitrary arrest and the lack of due legal process, especially in northern Uganda. We take seriously reports of human rights abuses, including harassment of the opposition and raise our concerns with the Ugandan authorities. The EU regularly raises alleged Government use of detention centres.

We welcomed Ugandan withdrawal of its remaining troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 2 June, in compliance with UNSCR 1468 (2003). The UK urges all neighbouring states to support the Transitional National Government and not to interfere in the DRC peace process.

We and EU partners regularly press the Ugandan Government to ensure due process of law and that state security agencies are subject to the proper scrutiny.

Ukraine

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Ukraine. [153780]

Mr. MacShane: The Ukrainian Foreign Minister called on my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 12 January. During their talks, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister extended an invitation to the Foreign Secretary to visit Ukraine. Foreign engagements for the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are kept under constant review. It is not practice to announce such visits until they are firm. Because of the unpredictable nature of world events, final decisions on overseas visits are often not possible until very shortly before the day of travel and occasionally not until they are under way.

I had a useful and productive visit to Ukraine last September, details of which were carried on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gov.uk).

TRANSPORT

Anti-terrorist Measures

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are being taken to improve the screening of freight containers for terrorist material. [152372]

Mr. Jamieson: The United Kingdom has a comprehensive security regime in place that it designed to protect the public while minimising the effect on trade and freedom of movement.

My Department works closely with HM Customs and Excise and others to enhance the existing security provisions relating to freight containers. For obvious reasons, it is not our practice to provide details of these measures. As part of this process the UK has signed up the US Container Security Initiative, whereby intelligence is shared between US and host nation Customs' officials. This operation is running in 19 countries and is proving very effective.

Our existing national regime will be augmented later this year with the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) global maritime security regime, and within this the UK has identified containerised freight as being an area of specific interest.

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BAe 146 Aircraft

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1010W, on BAe 146 aircraft, whether he expects the Air Accident Investigation Branch to publish in February its report of the investigation of a series of cabin air quality incidents involving BAe 146 aircraft and other similar incidents. [153908]

Mr. McNulty: The Air Accident Investigation Branch intends to publish its report shortly.

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