§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What have been the costs so far to the British taxpayer of the operation which is known in the west as Provide Comfort and to the Turks as Poised Hammer;
Whether the RAF is alone in patrolling the "northern no-fly zone" of Iraq, as implied by Mr. Soames in the House of Commons on 6 February 1997, column 1163, and if not what other air forces share the task;
Whether, as has been stated by Mr. Temel Karamollaoglu [SWB EE/2804B/5 30 December 1996], a senior Turkish parliamentarian on the government side, (a) Tornadoes patrolling the fly no-fly zone of Iraq are "equipped with weapons and bombs for these flights; and (b) whether "the US pulled approximately 10,000 of its agents out of the region" and whether any of the 10,000 were taken to Guam in US planes fuelled from Diego Garcia;
Why it is necessary to use Tornadoes and VC10 tankers to patrol the northern no-fly zone of Iraq; and
Whether personnel from the base countries, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are always present on flights to patrol the northern no-fly zone of Iraq.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl Howe)The UK has participated in Operation Warden (known in the US first as Operation Provide Comfort and now as Operation Northern Watch) since September 1991. The operation, based in southern Turkey, established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq in support of Security Council Resolution 688 calling on the Iraqi Government to cease repression of its civilian population.
Until 31 December 1996 the operation involved US, UK and French aircraft. However, since the French decision to withdraw from the operation at the end of last year, UK Tornado aircraft have undertaken the reconnaissance tasks previously shared with the French, for which it is well suited. RAF aircraft are appropriately armed to allow them to accomplish their mission and to take action in self defence. They are usually supported by one VC10 tanker, and occasionally by two, which provide air-to-air refuelling; the tankers do not operate in Iraqi airspace. Turkish personnel do not fly over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch, but do contribute to the operation within Turkey and Turkish airspace. The Saudis play no part in the northern operation.
The additional costs to the defence budget of the operation for 1996–97 are forecast at some £2.6 million. The total additional cost since the commencement of the operation is some £35 million.
Following Iraq's attack on Irbil last September, the US in October evacuated about 600 members of the 67WA Iraqi opposition from northern Iraq and during December about 3,800 workers associated with US and US funded NGOs and their families. None of the aircraft transporting them was fuelled from Diego Garcia.