HC Deb 28 February 1984 vol 55 cc139-42
Mr. Edward Leigh (Gainsborough and Horncastle) (by private notice)

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has now taken to discover the whereabouts of the 16 British citizens who have been kidnapped in Angola to ensure their safety and to secure their release.

3.32 pm
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Malcolm Rifkind)

An attack was mounted by UNITA on 23 February on the town of Cafunfo in north east Angola. UNITA claims to have taken prisoner a number of foreign workers in the town. Although we do not have independent corroboration of the details of that incident, we must assume that the 17 British citizens unaccounted for following the UNITA attack have been taken hostage. We deplore this act and look for the immediate and unconditional release of our people.

We have requested the International Committee of the Red Cross to check UNITA's claim, to ascertain the welfare of the hostages and to secure their earliest possible release. The Red Cross has undertaken to do this. Our ambassador in Luanda has sought and obtained assurances from the Angolan authorities that all necessary measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the hostages and of the remaining British citizens in the area. The Angolan authorities have evacuated four Britons from a nearby site to safety. Our consul has visited the area to study the situation on the spot.

With your permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to take this opportunity to inform the House of a separate matter. The seven British mercenary prisoners released yesterday by the Angolan Government have now arrived in the United Kingdom. We are naturally pleased that the men have been allowed to return home, and I should like to record the Government's thanks to the Angolan Government for this act of clemency.

Mr. Leigh

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on securing the release of the British mercenaries from Angola. Does he think that that will in any way affect the fate of those who were kidnapped at the weekend? Does he believe that the Angolan Government still have any influence on securing the release of those kidnapped, who include one of my constituents, Mr. Denis Clauson of Nettleham in Lincolnshire? Is my hon. Friend pursuing, through direct or indirect means, negotiations with UNITA to secure their release?

Mr. Rifkind

The negotiations that led to the release of the British mercenary prisoners were substantively concluded by the beginning of January. There was thus no connection of any kind between their release and the subsequent development involving the British hostages taken in the north of Angola. The Angolan Government have promised to do all within their power to help secure the release of the hostages and to take no action that might endanger their safety and well-being. As I said earlier, the Red Cross has kindly responded to our request to it to intervene on behalf of the hostages and we hope that those negotiations will lead to their early release.

Mr. Tom Clarke (Monklands, West)

The family of Thomas Murphy, from my constituency, are grateful to Foreign Office staff and to the Minister for their activities over the past few days. Will the Minister make strong representations to all the countries involved in the tripartite talks, especially to South Africa and the United States which may well have some influence in these matters, if only to point out that to kidnap innocent people, take their liberty from them and put them through the indignity of having to walk hundreds of kilometres is a code of behaviour totally repugnant to the British people and unacceptable to the House?

Mr. Rifkind

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks about the diplomatic staff in Angola which I will ensure are passed on to them. I agree with him in his latter remarks. I hope that UNITA will reflect on the effect of its activities on opinion in the House and throughout the country. The United Kingdom is a recent signatory of the international convention against the taking of hostages. We believe that the taking of civilian hostages, whatever the political background, can never be condoned or accepted and we hope that early release will be secured for the British and other civilian hostages.

Mr. Jim Spicer (Dorset, West)

In addition to the usual channels of the Government in Luanda and the Red Cross, which we all expect the Government to use, if any opportunity presents itself to use other direct channels to UNITA will my hon. Friend undertake to do so?

Mr. Rifkind

As my hon. Friend will be aware, this country has normal diplomatic relations with the present Angolan Government. In those circumstances, it seems appropriate at this stage to work through the Red Cross which has kindly offered its services for the purpose. We hope that that will prove successful in ensuring the early release of the British hostages, but we shall obviously consider whether further steps are necessary if that does not prove sufficient.

Mr. Ted Rowlands (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

As South Africa supports UNITA both financially and in other ways, might not one of the most effective means of making representations be asking the South Africans to bring pressure to bear on this issue?

Mr. Rifkind

If the South Africans have direct contact with UNITA and can use any influence they may have for this purpose, that would naturally be very acceptable to Her Majesty's Government.

Mr. Bowen Wells (Hertford and Stortford)

I join in congratulating my hon. Friend the Minister on securing the happy release of the detainees from Angola. Will he especially convey our congratulations to the ambassador on his patient work as well as to his predecessor and the Foreign Office as a whole in securing this excellent result? The Angolan authorities said that they would release our prisoners "at an appropriate moment". Why did they release them at this time, and what does that presage?

Mr. Rifkind

I shall certainly pass on my hon. Friend's very appropriate thanks to our diplomatic staff in Angola for their long and arduous work on behalf of the prisoners.

With regard to my hon. Friend's latter remarks, I visited Angola at the end of October last year. I reminded the Angolan Government that when their Foreign Minister was in London he had said that the Angolan Government hoped to release the mercenary prisoners some time in 1983. Subsequently, we received a visit from the Angolan Minister, Mr. Lopo de Nascimento, who indicated that agreement had been reached in principle that the prisoners should be released at an early date. The Angolan Government requested that their intention to release the men should not be given any advance publicity, so in response to their wishes we could not tell either the families or Members of Parliament until the men actually left Luanda late last night.

Mr. Michael Meadowcroft (Leeds, West)

Is the Minister aware that alliance members welcome all the efforts made to secure the release of the prisoners? Would it not be a sign of the success of the Government's policy on links with the South African regime if they could exert influence through the South Africans on the UNITA guerrillas who have taken the hostages? Would not the South Africans' ability to exert influence in this respect be a measure of the effectiveness of the links?

Mr. Rifkind

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, there have been recent talks between South Africa and the Angolian Government on matters of mutual interest to the two countries. We naturally hope that this will lead to better relations between them. If that in its own way could asssist in solving the problem affecting our citizens in Angola, clearly that would be welcome to us.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)

Can my hon. Friend explain why, if the Foreign Secretary of Her Majesty's Government can have direct negotiations with Mr. Sam Nujomo, leader of an organisation similar to, albeit politically different from, that of UNITA, the British Government cannot have direct negotiations with UNITA over the release of these hostages? I am convinced—and I am sure that my view is shared by many—that this would bring about their release very quickly.

Mr. Rifkind

For some years we have been prepared to have contact with representatives of all the parties involved in Namibia, not only SWAPO but others, too. In the case of Namibia, we are dealing with a country which has no recognised Government. In the case of Angola, there is a Government with which this Government have diplomatic relations.

Mr. Tom Cox (Tooting)

Is the Minister aware that these mercenaries were hired, paid killers who were left in no doubt as to the nature of the work they were supposed to do? In view of the efforts that his Department and our Ambassador have made towards their release, can he say what discussions may have taken place with the released men so that we shall not in the next few days see, in certain sections of our press, reports of their stories being sold for very large sums of money and a totally unrepentant attitude on their part towards their actions, including the killing of innocent people?

Mr. Rifkind

The hon. Gentleman is quite correct to point out that these mercenary prisoners were the authors of their own misfortune. We have indicated that we sought their release purely on humanitarian grounds. I do not wish to dissent in any way from the observations made by the hon. Gentleman in the latter part of his question.

Mr. K. Harvey Proctor (Billericay)

In joining in the expressions of thanks of the families of the men, one of whom is a former constituent of mine, may I particularly thank my hon. Friend who has, to my knowledge, spent a tremendous amount of time on this issue?

Would my hon. Friend pay particular attention to the report of the Committee of Privy Councillors appointed to inquire into the recruitment of mercenaries in August 1976, particularly the recommendation in its conclusions that legislation be introduced to empower Her Majesty's Government to prohibit the recruitment in the United Kingdom of mercenaries for service in specified armed forces abroad"?

Mr. Speaker

It is a question not of mercenaries but of other British citizens.

Mr. Proctor

I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, I was talking about mercenaries and asking my hon. Friend about the report, which has never been enacted, with a view to preventing mercenary activity from being based in the United Kingdom in the future.

Mr. Rifkind

I have noted my hon. Friend's question. As he is aware, recruitment of mercenaries in the United Kingdom would be a matter for the Secretary of State for the Home Department, but I shall draw his comments to my right hon. and learned Friend's attention.

Mr. Donald Anderson (Swansea, East)

Was the Minister entirely serious when he wondered whether the South African Government had any relationship with UNITA? Surely he realises that UNITA is largely financed and armed by that Government? Have Her Majesty's Government made any attempt to ascertain whether the South African Government will act as intermediary in this matter, given their own links with UNITA?

Will the Government talk with the Angolan Government in an effort to persuade them to refrain from any action which may endanger the lives of our citizens during this time?

What advice would the Government give to any technicians still in Britain who may be considering going to work for companies in Angola, given the demand which has been made by UNITA?

Mr. Rifkind

Most independent observers have indicated that, even if UNITA has no outside help from any quarter, there is evidence that it has some genuine support from within the country, although the extent of the support is difficult to estimate. I have already intimated that if the South African Government are able to influence UNITA in a direction that may lead to the release of the British hostages we would certainly welcome it.

We have raised the question of the safety of the hostages with the Angolan Government. They have assured us that, in actions against UNITA, they would avoid taking any which might endanger the safety or well-being of the hostages. Naturally we welcome that assurance.

On the question of individuals who may he contemplating going to Angola, there has been widespread activity by UNITA in many parts of that country and there can be no absolute guarantee of the safety of British personnel in those parts of the country where UNITA is operating. However, it must be a matter for the judgment of the individuals concerned and their potential employers, either those in this country or those operating with Angola itself.