HC Deb 08 June 1988 vol 134 cc831-3
5. Mr. John Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet the Secretary General of the United Nations; and what subjects he expects to be discussed.

Sir Geoffrey Howe

I have no immediate plans to do so. I last met the secretary general of the United Nations on 23 May. We had a useful and wide-ranging discussion.

Mr. Evans

Will the Foreign Secretary assure the House that the next time that he has the opportunity to have a discussion with the secretary general he will raise the question of chemical weapons? Has any progress been made at Geneva in the talks on the reduction of chemical weapons? I agree with the statement at the special session of the United Nations on disarmament that the use of chemical weapons is a particularly repulsive form of barbarism. Has any progress been made in on-site inspection and verification, especially in commercial chemical plants?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the importance of that point. When I spoke at the United Nations general assembly yesterday in the presence of the secretary general, I devoted a large part of my speech to the need to make headway in outlawing chemical weapons. I stressed the work that has been going on—in which Britain has been taking a leading part—in the Geneva talks and that is technical, difficult and must be pressed ahead urgently. That is why the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union have opened their chemical weapons defence establishments to inspection by each other as a contribution to openness. I also stressed the need for more urgent action to outlaw the spreading use of chemical weapons in conflicts such as the Gulf war.

Mr. Lester

When my right hon. and learned Friend has discussed events with the secretary general, has he raised the deteriorating situation in the Sudan, which causes many of us great concern because there is clear evidence of genocide and complete irrationality in the behaviour of the Sudanese Government? When I last spoke to Sadiq al-Mandi, he particularly wanted the secretary general to go to Sudan and to consider the situation in the Horn of Africa. Has that featured in my right hon. and learned Friend's discussions?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to that. It is not a subject that I discussed with the secretary general when I saw him on 23 May, but I knew that it was on his mind because he was then on his way to the OAU meeting in Addis Ababa. I shall certainly keep it in mind for my next contact with him.

Ms. Short

When the Secretary of State meets the secretary general, will he explain why he would be unwilling to meet the PLO until it renounces the use of force and recognises the right of Israel to exist, when he happily meets representatives of the Israeli Government who are engaged in massive and brutally illegal use of force in the occupied territories and give absolutely no undertaking that they recognise the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in their own state, whereas the PLO said that it would embrace all United Nations' resolutions, which includes a willingness to recognise the right of Israel to exist? Why do the British Government have double standards?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

We do not have double standards in that respect—[Interruption.] Nor in any other respect; I always address myself to the question.

When I met the Foreign Minister of Israel in Brussels about three weeks ago it was clear that he well understood the need to respect the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people, and it is on that basis that one has contact with the properly established Government of a country with whom we have diplomatic relations.

With regard to the PLO we have striven very hard—the hon. Lady may remember our efforts of two years ago—to establish a meeting of a joint delegation of Palestinian and Jordanian people on well-known terms—the repudiation of violence, recognition of resolution 242 without qualification and recognition of Israel's right to exist. In our judgment—we are not alone in this—it is important to go on emphasising those conditions.

Dr. Blackburn

When my right hon. and learned Friend next meets the secretary general of the United Nations will he confirm that it is the view of Her Majesty's Government that United Nations resolution 242 is not negotiable and that the Government stand four square upon it? Will he also consider the prospect of helping in the process of restoring diplomatic relations between the state of Israel and Russia?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

Our commitment to the importance of resolution 242 goes without saying and it is of the utmost importance. The restoration of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel is clearly worthy of consideration. I know from my recent meetings with the Foreign Ministers of both countries that that is in the minds of both parties.

Mr. Anderson

The Foreign Secretary will be aware that there was some confusion in our press yesterday as to whether the Prime Minister had received a communication from the secretary general about Cyprus and particularly on the latest initiative of the secretary general in respect of that island. Was that letter received in our capacity as a guarantor power? What response will the Government make? Will we try to persuade the President of Cyprus and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community to meet as foreshadowed in that letter?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

The Cyprus question is another important matter that the Prime Minister and I both discussed with the secretary general during his visit here on 23 May. We give strong and continuing support to his efforts to reach a settlement.

Yesterday in New York I was able to have a short meeting with President Vassiliou and I was glad to welcome his readiness for negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations. Yesterday he reaffirmed that readiness to the secretary general. In the same way we are encouraged by Mr. Denktash's acceptance, in principle, of the secretary general's initiative to attend an early meeting with President Vassiliou. We are in close and continuous contact with the parties. The only thing that is not yet well established is the existence of a letter of the type to which the hon. Gentleman referred. No such letter has been received, but in its absence we are doing everything we should.

Mr. Boswell

On a more domestic vein, will my right hon. and learned Friend consider raising with the secretary general the question of outstanding arrears of subscriptions to the United Nations by various member states?

Sir Geoffrey Howe

Yes, I discussed that matter with the secretary general when we met. It is an important matter because, at the beginning of the year, no fewer than half the member states of the United Nations were in arrears with their assessed contributions. We shall continue to press the matter.