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Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): Following the resumption of fighting on 6 February we were instrumental in passing UN Security Council Resolution 1227 of 10 February which urged all states to end immediately all sales of arms and munitions to Ethiopia and Eritrea. My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Tony Lloyd MP) announced in another place on 15 February a UK arms embargo on both countries. At our suggestion a legally binding EU arms embargo was agreed on 15 March.
In accordance with these arms embargos we are refusing export licence applications to both countries. We expect these embargos to remain in force until this dispute is resolved peacefully.
We remain concerned at the continued flow of weapons into the region and urge all countries to end the sale of arms to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The text referred to is the Report on the Negotiations for entry into the European Economic Community written in 1972 by Sir Con O'Neill. It was scheduled for public release in 2003 under the 30-year rule. However, a decision was taken in 1998 as part of a new open government initiative to accelerate the release and publication of FCO internal histories. Sir Con O'Neill's report fell into this category and preparations were set in hand for its
declassification and release before the publication of Mr. Young's book. It is expected to be published early next year.It is not practicable to investigate every alleged unauthorised disclosure of official documents. Leak investigations are carried out when the leak results in damage to the national interest. Since the decision to declassify the text prior to its early release pre-dated the publication of Mr. Young's book, it was decided that an investigation was not justified.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: No formal approach has been made by any neighbouring states to bill NATO for collateral or other damage. Every day NATO conducts detailed bomb assessments, including collateral damage. NATO takes great care in targeting to avoid collateral damage and is well aware of the economic, social and humanitarian impact on targets and takes this into account when selecting targets.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: There has been no change in our policy since the NATO airstrikes began. NATO remains united in its firm resolve to continue the airstrikes and reduce still further Milosevic's ability to repress his own citizens until we can guarantee a fair and peaceful future for all the people of Kosovo.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The logistical details of the United Nations organised consultation of the East Timorese, in East Timor and the diaspora, to be held on 8 August are still being worked out.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: EU partners have agreed that the list of prisoners of conscience, about whom EU Ambassadors in Hanoi make collective representations to the Vietnamese Government, should remain confidential.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Nguyen Thanh Giang was released from prison on 10 May.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: There is a wide range of estimates of private capital flight from Russia over the recent years. Much of the capital flight reflects Russian individuals and firms acting within the law.
Where capital flows are known or suspected to be the proceeds of criminal conduct, financial institutions have a legal duty to report them to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). NCIS have agreed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Ministry of the Interior and will assist its Russian authorities to investigate money laundering cases. The UK also provides technical assistance to Russia to help it improve its anti-money laundering systems and to meet the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering.
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Chancellor has written to the Governor of the Bank of England confirming that the remit for the Monetary Policy Committee will remain unchanged. A copy of his letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn): Sir Duncan Nichol has been appointed as chair of the panel. The members of the panel are in the process of being appointed and their names will be announced in June. The panel will start work by the autumn.
Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Williams of Mostyn: We have today placed in the Library copies of the annual report of the British Board of Film Classification for 1998.
We welcome the board's timely publication of its annual report.
Lord Tomlinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Williams of Mostyn: We have today written to Herr Schily, German Minister of the Interior and President of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, with the United Kingdom's formal application to participate in certain areas of the Schengen acquis as provided for by Article 4 of the Schengen Protocol. The application reflects my right honourable friend's answer in another place, Official Report, 12 March, col. 380. The text of the application has been placed in the Library and the draft Council decision on our application will be submitted for parliamentary scrutiny.
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