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North Korea

22. Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will condemn north Korea's decision to ban south Korean aid supplies crossing the land border during the recent emergency. [171850]

Mr. Rammell: We regret any unnecessary delay to the urgent provision of emergency humanitarian aid to victims of the Ryongchon explosion. We understand that the DPRK authorities have since decided to allow shipments of relief materials over land from south Korea and that these began on 7 May.

Zimbabwe

23. Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the arrest of the former Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Mr. Chris Kuruneri. [171851]

Mr. Mullin: We understand that Mr. Kuruneri is alleged to have externalised foreign currency. His arrest and the investigations into the allegations against him are a matter for the Government of Zimbabwe.

Burma

24. Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the human rights situation in Burma and the representations he has made about the treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi. [171852]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Burma. The UK co-sponsored a widely supported resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 21 April which condemned human rights violations in Burma. We fully
 
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support the efforts of Sergio Pinheiro the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma and regularly call on Burma's military regime to co-operate fully with him.

I have repeatedly called on the Burmese regime to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Belarus

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Council of Europe's reports on the human rights situation in Belarus. [171129]

Mr. Rammell: The issues raised in the two Council of   Europe reports on Belarus remain of serious concern. We welcome the reports and support their recommendations. Together with EU partners we will respond to the findings of the reports and consider what measures to take in light of the recommendations.

China

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese Government concerning the arrest of the North Korean refugee Kang Byong-sop. [171525]

Mr. Rammell: The EU carried out a demarche on North Korean border crossers in February 2004 specifically to request safe passage to a third country for the Kang family. The case was also raised at the EU/China Human Rights Dialogue in February. However, the Kang family was repatriated to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in March.

I raised the issue of China's treatment of DPRK border crossers with Zhang Zhijun, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, when we met in March. I also expressed concern about the treatment of the Kang family to Choe Tae Bok, a senior DPRK official, when he visited London during that month. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have made official representations to the Chinese and DPRK Ambassadors in London and also the Chinese authorities in Beijing about the repatriation. We expect the EU to take follow-up action shortly.

Departmental Procurement

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of   the (a) crockery, (b) cutlery and (c) glassware procured by his Department over the last five years is of British manufacture. [170799]

Mr. Rammell: 97 per cent. of all crockery, cutlery and glassware is British manufactured.

Embassies

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the annual overall running cost was for the UK embassy in (a) Washington and (b) Paris in 2003–04; and how many staff were employed in each of these embassies. [170819]

 
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Mr. Rammell: Final running cost figures for financial year 2003–04 will not be available until November 2004 at the earliest. I will send them to the hon. Member when they are. The number of staff at each post are as follows:

	FCO UK	OGD 1 UK	FCO LE 2	OGD LE
Washington	63.00	20.00	158.50	16.15
Paris Embassy	46.00	15.00	151.80	4.40

⁽¹⁾ Other Government Department
⁽²⁾ Locally employed.

The figures reflect the total number of full-time equivalents and include part time positions.

Internet Child Pornography

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps his Department has taken to export the UK model of co-operation between Government, police and industry to tackle child pornography on the internet; [166800]

(2) what measures his Department is taking to   increase international co-operation among law enforcement agencies to combat child pornography on the internet. [166802]

Paul Goggins: I have been asked to reply.

While the Government have actively encouraged, and worked towards, the development of a partnership approach between the various agencies and organisations which deal with tackling child abuse on the internet in the UK, how this issue is dealt with by other jurisdictions is a matter for each individual country to consider. The Government have promoted the success of multi agency co-operation to tackle child abuse on the internet, using examples such as the Task Force on child protection on the internet, in speeches, at conferences, in the international fora it operates within, through ministerial and officials' visits overseas, and to the many visitors it receives with a relevant interest in this issue.

There are a variety of mechanisms to assist in furthering international co-operation between law enforcement agencies on this issue. This may be through the provision of equipment and training to overseas law enforcement by UK agencies, or by the development and hosting of specialist training courses or conferences. For example, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and National Crime Squad recently co-funded a conference for international law enforcement experts, NGOs and officials concerning child abuse and the internet. The National Crime Squad is also engaged in a global initiative with partner countries currently comprising Canada, USA, Australia and Interpol which seeks to establish new and imaginative ways of combating and reducing child abuse on line, seeking to produce a virtual police presence which will ultimately make the internet a safer place.

A problem for all law enforcement agencies is the identification of children featured in child abuse images. As part of a G8 strategy on Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, the UK is leading the development of an international (not restricted to   G8 countries) Child Image Database, housed at Interpol. It aims to act as a global repository of images
 
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of child abuse with the capacity to carry out automated analysis. It will be a significant tool for international law enforcement contributing to the identification of victims and offenders and analysis of images. The strategy also seeks to promote mechanisms for sharing information and best practice internationally to further protect from exploitation online.

Kashmir

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian Government regarding elections for the Indian Parliament in Jammu and Kashmir this year. [171380]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The elections have been discussed with Indian Government Ministers in general terms but   we have not made any formal representations to them regarding the current elections for the Indian Parliament in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Pakistan and India regarding peace negotiations in Kashmir. [171381]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have discussed the recent moves towards dialogue between India and Pakistan with our counterparts in both countries during visits to the region between December 2003 and March 2004. The Foreign Secretary also issued a statement welcoming the breakthrough in relations between the two countries following the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation Summit on 6 January. A copy of the statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk/policy/news/press-releases. We continue to take every opportunity to encourage the Indian and Pakistani Governments to build confidence through peaceful engagement that will, in time, lead to the resolution of all their outstanding differences, including over Kashmir.

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