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Ministerial Conferences

Mr Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many conferences he and his Ministers attended (a) in the UK and (b) abroad in the year to 29 February 2004; and what the cost was of attending these conferences, broken down by (i) travel costs, (ii) food and drink, (iii) accommodation and (iv) miscellaneous costs. [160797]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 16 March 2004]: Since 1999 the Government has published an annual list of all visits undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The list includes details of my attendance at overseas conferences. The details for the financial year 2003/04 will be published as soon as possible after 31 March 2004. All ministerial travel is undertaken in line with the rules set out in the Ministerial code and Travel by Ministers. During the period 1 March 2003–29 February 2004, I attended the following conference and meetings, including those of UN, EU or NAQTO formations:
UK (£)

Date	Conference	Location	Travel Costs	Food and Drink	Accommodation	Miscellaneous
4 March 2003	Enlargement seminar for parliamentarians	Locarno suite, FCO	0	0	0	0
30 April 2003	Seminar with parliamentarians on the future of the Arab world	Lancaster House	0	0	0	0
17 July 2003	Seminar on the future of Europe	Locarno suite, FCO	0	0	0	0
12 July 2003	Progressive governance conference	Hilton, Metropole hotel, London	0	0	0	0
25 November 2003	Address at the IPPR conference	Thistle hotel, Victoria	0	0	0	0

 
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Overseas

Date	Conference	Location
20–21 March 2003	Europe Council	Brussels, Belgium
16 April 2003	Informal European Council and Signature of the Accession	Athens, Greece
17 April 2003	European Conference	Athens, Greece
2–3 May 2003	Gymnich (informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers	Rhodes, Greece
19 May 2003	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Brussels, Belgium
22–23 May 2003	G8 Foreign Ministers meeting	Paris, France
3 June 2003	NATO Foreign Ministers meeting	Madrid, Spain
16 June 2003	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Luxembourg
19–21 June 2003	European Council and EU/Western Balkans Summit	Porto Caras, Greece
21 July 2003	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Brussels, Belgium
5–6 September 2003	Gymnich (Informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers)	Riva del Garda, Italy
13 September 2003	UN "Permanent 5" meeting	Geneva, Switzerland
22–25 September 2003	UNGA (United Nations General Assembly)	New York, USA
4 October 2003	Intergovernmental conference (IGC)	Rome, Italy
13 October 2003	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Luxembourg
16–17 October 2003	European Council	Brussels, Belgium
27 October 2003	ICG Meeting	Brussels, Belgium
17–18 November 2003	General Affairs and External Relations Council and IGC meeting	Brussels, Belgium
28–29 November 2003	Intergovernmental Conference Ministerial Conclave	Naples, Italy
8 December 2003	General and External Relations Council	Brussels, Belgium
12–13 December 2003	European Council	Brussels, Belgium
21 January 2004	Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum	Davos, Switzerland
26 January 2004	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Brussels, Belgium
23 February 2004	General Affairs and External Relations Council	Brussels, Belgium

I have placed the list of conferences or meetings attended by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers during the period 1 March 2003—February 2004 in the Library of the House.

Ministerial Visits

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the ministerial visits from (a) his and (b) other Government Departments to (i) Israel and (ii) the Occupied Territories in each of the past 10 years. [163659]

Mr. Rammell: Since 2000, the year in which the second Intifada began, the following ministerial visits have taken place to Israel and the Occupied Territories (OTs):

	Ministerial visit
2000
29 February to 1 March	Peter Mandelson, Minister for Northern Ireland—Israel
28 to 30 March	Peter Hain, FCO Minister—Israel and OTs
24 to 26 June	David Trimble, Northern Ireland Minister—Israel and OTs
29 to 31 August	Peter Hain, FCO Minister—Israel and OTs
2001
20 to 22 July	Bed Bradshaw, FCO Minister—Israel and OTs
24 September	Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary—Israel and OTs
1 November	Prime Minister—Israel and OTs
2002
14 to 17 January	Bed Bradshaw, FCO Minister—Israel and OTs
13–14 February	Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary—Israel and OTs
3 to 4 July	Mike O'Brien, FCO Minister—Israel and OTs
2003
28 to 31 July	Hilary Benn, DFID Minister—OTs
30 September to 1 October	Baroness Symons, FCO Minister—Israel
2004
21 to 23 January	Baroness Symons, FCO Minister—OTs
21 to 26 February	Stephen Twigg, DFES Minister—Israel and OTs

 
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Records prior to 2000 are not held centrally and drawing up a comprehensive list dating back to 1994 would incur disproportionate costs.

Mr. Maajid Nawaz

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 23 March 2004, Official Report, column 750W, on Mr.Maajid Nawaz, what representations the Government has made to the Egyptian Government since the verdict of 25 March 2004 regarding Maajid Nawaz. [164885]

Mr. Mullin: Our ambassador in Cairo raised the case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on 25 March. I assure the hon. Member that we will continue to make representations, where appropriate, to the Egyptian Government, about any concerns we may have about Maajid Nawaz's case.

Nigeria

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the fairness of the Nigerian local council elections; and if he will make a statement. [165427]

Mr. Mullin: Local government elections took place in   Nigeria on 27 March. The elections were another important step towards enhancing democratic accountability in Nigeria. They were, however, long delayed and did not take place in all 36 states. There were consistent reports of polling irregularities, intimidation and violence. We hope that steps will be taken to rectify these incidences of malpractice using the due process of law. We are ready to offer our support to the Nigerian authorities in improving the process.

North Korea

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for   Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent
 
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discussions he has had with the Government of North Korea concerning its alleged export of nuclear technology; and if he will make a statement. [165476]

Mr. MacShane: The Government, at both official and ministerial level, take every opportunity to raise proliferation issues with the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The most recent such discussion was during a call on   the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Rammell), by Mr Choe Thae Bok, Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, during the latter's visit to the UK in March this year.

Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by the United Kingdom to encourage countries not signed up to the Non-Proliferation Treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenal. [165745]

Mr. MacShane: The United Kingdom consistently calls on Israel, India and Pakistan to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear weapon states. The complete abandonment and dismantling of any nuclear weapon programmes would be required before their accession to the Treaty.

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the United Kingdom plans to take over the next 12 months to facilitate global compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. [165746]

Mr. MacShane: The United Kingdom continues to stress the utmost importance of compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We will continue to work with our European partners in the framework of the EU Common Position on universality as well as with other countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency to encourage global compliance with the Treaty and the adoption of the Additional Protocol.

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