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11 Feb 2009 : Column 2003W—continued
Mass Media
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost of his Department's contracts with press monitoring services was in each of the last five years. [251157]
Gillian Merron: The monies spent by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on press monitoring services in each of the last five years are as follows:
| Financial year | £ |
| (1) Estimate | |
Middle East: Armed Conflict
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he , (b) Ministers in his Department, (c) officials in his Department, (d) the British Ambassador to Egypt and (e) officials in the British Embassy in Egypt have had with the government of Egypt since December 2008 on the smuggling of (i) weapons and (ii) people into Gaza from Egypt via under-border tunnels; what reports he has received on the number of tunnels between Gaza and Egypt that have been (A) discovered and (B) closed; and if he will make a statement. [252969]
Bill Rammell: We are extremely concerned with the smuggling of arms and people into Gaza. With the number of tunnels discovered changing on a regular basis we are unable to provide a definitive figure.
We have been in close touch with the Egyptian authorities including my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister meeting President Mubarak at the Sharm summit and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary speaking to his Egyptian counterpart. We will continue to work with the government of Egypt and our international partners on ways to help prevent smuggling.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the use of tunnels under the border of Egypt and Gaza by Bedouin smugglers to transfer arms to Hamas; what recent representations he has made to the government of Egypt about this issue; and if he will make a statement. [252970]
Bill Rammell: We are extremely concerned with the smuggling of arms and people into Gaza including through tunnels under the border. We are currently working with the Government of Egypt and our international partners on ways to help prevent smuggling.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government has evidence that the government of Israel has used white phosphorus weapons in a way inconsistent with international law; and if he will make a statement. [253010]
Bill Rammell: We are gravely concerned at the allegations into the misuse of white phosphorous. We expect, and urge, Israel, to investigate allegations of abuses by their forces. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in his statement to Parliament on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 501,
“allegations must be closely and speedily investigated”.
Occupied Territories
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the alleged suspicious deaths of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza. [249868]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 21 January 2009]: We have not received any reports specifically relating to the suspicious deaths of Palestinian journalists.
Official Cars
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what cars are (a) owned,
(b) leased, (c) hired and (d) otherwise regularly used by his Department, broken down by cubic capacity of engine. [250146]
Gillian Merron: Information about the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) overseas fleet of vehicles is not held centrally. To provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Details of FCO Services owned vehicles are set out in the table below. FCO Services does not lease or hire vehicles for the fleet, all vehicles detailed are ‘owned’.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Hoon) on 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 10W, about cars provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
| Vehicle make | Vehicle model | Vehicle Function | Engine cc | Euro Standard | CO 2 Emissions (g/km) | Fuel |
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