§ Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours (Workington)Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak about Iraqi Kurdistan. I strongly believe that it is right that Parliament should debate this subject before the Easter recess, as Iraq's political future may be decided in the next few days and weeks, with far-reaching consequences for the whole region.
It may interest the House to know that just before I came into the Chamber I was in contact with representatives of the Iraqi Kurds who are in almost hourly contact with bases inside Iraqi Kurdistan. They report violence on a considerable scale.
In a lead article in The Guardian this morning, Martin Woollacott, who is now in the region, reports:
Saddam Hussein's forces are brutally bombarding the civilian population of Kirkuk using helicopters and artillery.He writes:As we drove into the city we saw three helicopters hovering above. Every day they drop bombs at random on Kirkuk, including, the Kurds say, napalm. Every day casualties are brought into the overloaded main hospital.Martin Woollacott then refers to corpses in the foyer of the hospital and to the hospital not having enough surgeons. He writes:At one point orderlies rushed towards us with a cardboard box containing a baby. A mother was caught in the napalm attack two days ago and died in the hospital. The napalm had burned through to her womb, injuring the baby which the medical staff tried to save. They delivered the child, amputated one of the burned legs, and put the baby into what passes for intensive care.I draw attention to that report because one of the main issues that I wish to raise is the use of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter gunships by the Iraqi authorities.My principal and most immediate aim in raising this debate is to ask the Government to press the coalition forces to issue a statement at once insisting that the terms of the ceasefire are complied with, that those terms include the requirement that all Iraqi combat aircraft, whether fixed-wing or helicopters, are grounded and that, if Saddam Hussein does not immediately comply, those aircraft will be shot down without further notice.
I remind the House that, in an interview broadcast last night the allied commander in the Gulf, General Schwarzkopf, told David Frost that Iraq was given permission to fly its helicopters only for civil, humanitarian and internal administrative purposes and that he had been lied to and "suckered" by Iraqi ceasefire negotiators as to their use. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater confirmed that the use of combat helicopters violated the oral and written agreements between the two sides. United States commanders confirmed that, although they were more difficult to track, helicopter gunships could be dealt with as effectively as Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft. Even as late as last night, Lieutenant-General Sir Peter de la Billiere stated that Iraq had breached the ceasefire agreement with the use of helicopter gunships. What will be done about that? What will the coalition forces do about it?
I want to make it clear that I am in no way advocating that coalition ground troops should be deployed further within Iraq. I am merely urging that Saddam Hussein should be deprived of aircraft that have been used to deliver weapons of mass destruction against civilians, who 1104 have no defence against aerial attack. If those aircraft are not grounded now, we may well shortly receive further horrific reports about attacks not only with napalm, phosphorous and sulphuric acid, but, as was evidenced only too clearly by what happened in Halabja during the war with Iran, with mustard and nerve gas. Clearly they must remain on the agenda.
We have the proven capability to stop these atrocities. If we fail once again to act, we cannot help but be implicated in Saddam Hussein's massacres. The coalition fought the war that made the uprising possible. President Bush himself called for the uprising. We cannot now wash our hands of the consequences.
It is clear that there is a grave humanitarian problem in Iraq. The report of the Secretary General of the United Nations which was published only yesterday paints a grim picture of progressively worsening human catastrophe. The imminent temperature rise in Iraq will add cholera and typhoid epidemics to the number of intestinal and respiratory diseases and to the increasing incidence of malnutrition. The recent Oxfam/Save the Children report confirmed that the population of Baghdad depended on the sewage-polluted Tigris for drinking water, which is therefore infected.
The situation in the south is so desperate and confused that almost no reliable areawide reports exist, and the only information is the anecdotal evidence of American soldiers who are sickened by the growing results of the human tragedy that they are being forced to witness. In the north, an estimated 6 million people are facing acute shortages of food and medical supplies, and there is no fuel to power the flour mills. Since the start of the uprising, Saddam Hussein has deliberated used the politics of hunger against the liberated areas. It is reported that, without syringes, antibiotics and even the most basic medical supplies, Kurdish forces, who have sustained more than 11,000 casualties according to reports, have to cope with the needs of injured refugees fleeing from the remaining Ba'ath-controlled territory.
The Iraqi-Kurdistan Front, which is a coalition of all the Kurdish groups, has repeatedly asked for the UN Security Council to be reconvened to consider the growing seriousness of the situation. Only yesterday, the IKF promised to provide safe passage for the International Committee of the Red Cross to bring in aid on the understanding that it would go to all areas of Iraq, including the liberated areas. Kurdish leaders agreed to do everything possible to help the civilian population, despite the knowledge that, even with safeguards, Saddam Hussein may well succeed in keeping the food and medicine from Kurdistan and that his distribution of it may even help to prop up his regime and lend it some spurious political legitimacy.
As the IKF has established administrative control of Kurdistan and has the means to deliver aid where it is most needed, I strongly urge that it is delivered directly to the IKF either by road convoy from Turkey to Syria or Iran or by air to captured northern airfields under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross or some other reputable body, as is the case in Ethiopia.
I shall now deal with the issue of Iraq's internal political dynamics and the likely outcome of the uprising. It is becoming clear that elements in the United States Defence Department favour the suppression of the opposition and the striking of some deal with a Ba'ath regime headed by someone other than Saddam Hussein. That is the wrong 1105 way forward, because Saddam Hussein and the Iraq regime are inseparable. It is a fascist, totalitarian and terrorist regime and is historically unique in remaining covert, even in government. By its recent actions and, in particular, by its attacks on Islamic holy places, it has lost any trace of legitimacy with the majority Shi'ite population, certainly in the south. It has been shown merely to have used Islamic feeling for its own perverse and strictly secular objectives.
The only way to achieve political stability in Iraq and in that region is to establish a democratised, pluralistic society which respects the human collective rights of all peoples of Iraq, perhaps through the setting up of a federation or confederation of autonomous regions which meet the aspirations of Kurdish, Shi'ite and other groups. The risk to the world community if it fails to support this democratic movement is much greater than any risk involved in the potential breakdown of opposition unity. The cohesion of the opposition forces is remarkable. The Shi'ite parties appear to have dropped any claim to establish an Islamic republic. Many Shi'ites have said that they have learned from their exile in Iran the need to avoid the excesses of Islamic fundamentalism.
If I were a Kurd in the anger of conflict, I would want a separate independent state, but these moderate, responsible people have put that claim aside. Many have positively rejected it. Their leader, Jalal Talabani, who has just returned to a tumultuous welcome in Iraqi Kurdistan, publicly told his fighters that this is an uprising not just of Kurdistan but of the whole of Iraq. An indication of their objectivity is that, far from taking revenge on Iraqi army prisoners, they are giving them parcels and sending them safely home through Kurdish lines. If these forces of toleration and democracy are given the support of the world community, they will never forget it. If we let them down, neither shall we. If democratic forces receive no assistance from the world community and are defeated as a result, it will send forth a message about the prospects for democracy in the middle east that will last a generation. Such a message would not be helpful.
The recent IKF offer to set up a provisional Government should be considered, if not now certainly in the near future. At this stage, it might not find ready takers, for reasons that we understand, but when the regime of Saddam Hussein is toppled, or even he is toppled, it should be considered as a realistic option pending the establishment of a more stable, long-term and permanent arrangement.
Let us now consider arms sales to Iraq. I supported the war, but I did not dwell on arms sales during the war because that was not the right time to do so. We must now legitimately ask how it all happened and what can be done to stop it in future. Will it happen again? I am concerned that once the conflict has been resolved and sanctions lifted, some spurious justification will be found to re.-arm Iraq and to arm further the countries in that region. The Government claim that existing legislation adequately deals with military exports, but that is nonsense. We all recall the excuses by the Minister of State for Defence Procurement when he was Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry over the supergun affair. The attitude to arms sales was flog them and damn the consequences, but that cannot be accepted in future. It must stop.
We need an international initiative which clearly monitors our exports as well as those of Germany, France 1106 and other major arms exporters. International cooperation is needed to overcome the widespread abuse of end user certificates, bills of lading and other export documents. In that context, I envisage an enhanced role for the UN. How can we develop that role? The way towards the much talked about, but, as yet, theoretical, new world order, which I strongly support, is to strengthen the United Nations.
On a recent visit to America, I pressed with representatives of the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House the case for an enhanced United Nations role. At a meeting yesterday with representatives of the Chinese embassy, for reasons which I am sure my hon. Friends will understand I pressed for a sympathetic response to the question of the United Nations being given a role, not just in interstate conflicts but in conflicts within states. The United Nations should be able to deal with conflicts within states which threaten the peace and stability of whole regions.
In a beautifully scripted article in The Guardian, Kenneth Galbraith recently argued for an enhanced role for the United Nations in tackling poverty as the root cause of world instability. He said:
the UN must have authority to end and reverse not only aggression by one country against another, but also mass slaughter and destruction within a country. As the UN should exercise sovereignty, so it should have power when sovereignty is outrageously misused to suspend it. Modern mass horror now results, if anything, less from international conflict, than from internal conflict and massacre. The most elementary requirement of the new world order is the need for it to take on the responsiblity for stopping internal butchery.This new role for the UN must not remain an academic dream but must start now, today, with the declaration that all Iraqi combat aircraft, fixed-wing and helicopter, must be grounded or they will be shot down, and that if weapons of mass destruction are used, the UN will not stand idly by. This is an historic opportunity for the UN once again to begin the process of establishing a meaningful role. If it fails to act, it will be enormously demaged, because it will be implicated in the slaughter of civilians that has already begun. The time for deliberation is over. It is time to act.I pay tribute to the level-headedness and courage shown by leading statesmen in both Turkey and Iran throughout the crisis. I know that Iranians are deeply suspicious of the motives of the west—a perfectly understandable attitude after their experiences under the Shah, who was for many years propped up by the west. The west owes a debt of gratitude to Iran for its handling of the conflict and the peculiar but important position that it took throughout the war in the Gulf. I hope that it will lead to a growing understanding between the peoples of the United Kingdom and that country. We should all be grateful to it for the role that it played.
§ Mrs. Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) for allowing me some of his time during this Adjournment debate.
It is an indictment of the House that, while the Gulf war was raging, we had almost daily statements on the conduct of the war, but since the perceived end of it, there has been not one statement on the situation inside Iraq or on the great troubles caused to its people. Were it not for the squalid manoeuvring of the Government over the past few 1107 days, rushing through legislation which they think will bring them electoral gain, there should have been a statement on that situation.
There is no doubt that the people of Iraq are suffering a great deal, and this has been shown by the many reports from broadcasters and journalists. They have seen their country so badly damaged that it has returned to a pre-industrial stage. They grieve for tens of thousands of sons and husbands killed on the battlefield. According to the direct testimony of the United Nations, Save the Children and Oxfam, all of which have recently sent their observers into the country, they face starvation, serious epidemic and disease. It is disgraceful that I am forced to raise this important issue in an Adjournment debate.
The people of Iraq continue, despite appalling difficulties, to try to overthrow Saddam Hussein, who brought them to this catastrophe. Meanwhile, the killing and the dying continue. Over the past few years, I have chaired the Campaign against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq—a national organisation of which many of my hon. Friends are members. As the records will show, it has continually brought to the attention of the House the appalling human rights record of the Saddam Hussein regime.
We were loud and persistent voices, whose pleas fell on deaf ears. Over six years, we told the House about the disappearance of women and children, of torture, execution and public hangings, and of oppression and dictatorship. After Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Kurds at Halabja, killing at least 5,000 people and razing 4,000 Kurdish villages to the ground, I and some of my hon. Friends, particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) urged the Government to use sanctions against Iraq. I am sorry to say that there was little response. Saddam Hussein continued to be treated as a valuable friend until 2 August last year.
Then came the invasion of Kuwait, and everything changed. There was the Gulf war, but, while Kuwait has been liberated, we still do not know the extent of the death toll inside Iraq. Because of my long involvement with the opposition in Iraq, I have recently attended two international conferences to discuss how that opposition can be co-ordinated internationally, to the greatest effect. I went to Washington to a meeting organised by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to Sweden, to a meeting organised by the Swedish Save the Children Fund. The Kurds argued in all those meetings that they wanted autonomy within Iraq and the protection of their language and culture in the other countries in which they live.
Throughout the Gulf war, we said that we had no quarrel with the Iraqi people. If that is the case, we now have a responsibility to show that. That responsibility is enshrined in the Geneva convention of 1949, the United Nations convention on the rights of the child and the world summit for children. The UN mission found in Baghdad that normal life had almost come to a halt. The situation in the south and Basra is believed to be dramatically worse because of severe fighting. With military attention now reportedly turning to the north, the situation there might deteriorate further. Certainly for refugees in the south, the allied forces in the area may be able to play a humanitarian role. 1108 No meaningful quantities of food supplies have been imported since the start of sanctions. Until then, 70 per cent. of Iraq's food came from imports. There is immediate danger of major disease and epidemic. Water and sewerage services are in a critical state, with a consequent danger to health. In the children's hospital in Baghdad, the admission of children with diarrheal diseases has increased fourfold. Cholera, typhoid and hepatitis threaten the population. The health service is in a state of collapse because of the lack of power, fuel and communications. In numerous places, sewage is flowing in the streets. Maternal and child health services are particularly affected. The medical immunisation system, which had been one of the most advanced in the developing world, has broken down almost completely. Antenatal care has almost ceased, There are reports of high-risk delivery at home, with no help. Medicines and drugs are in short supply. At present, the central warehouses are empty. Distribution of relief supplies of drugs are being held up for lack of fuel.
The United Nations report states bluntly:
It is unmistakable that the Iraqi people may soon face a further, imminent catastrophe which could include epidemic and famine, if life supporting needs are not rapidly met.The United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, said this week that he was shocked by the scale of Iraq's humanitarian problems. The Minister said this morning that he, too, thinks that this is a troubling situation. All the evidence shows that basic foodstuffs such as flour are now critically low, and the supplies of sugar, rice, tea, vegatable oil, powdered milk and pulses are also in short supply or have been exhausted altogether.The situation for women and children is desperate, because they are the most vulnerable at times of war. Sufficient water for basic needs is not available in most homes and, when available, is in short supply. The collection of water from rivers and the search for fuel put a great strain on women. All the children are at home as the schools have been closed since the start of bombardment. The team was repeatedly informed of and observed the fear felt by children at being left alone. Women bear the burden of these additional care needs. The rations available are less than half of the daily requirement of a five-year-old child, or less than one third of the daily requirement of a pregnant woman. Obviously, that is not enough for subsistence.
The United Nations has warned of an impending disaster, in which large numbers of civilians will die needlessly from disease and, perhaps, starvation, unless a major international aid effort is undertaken. Iraq's needs are enormous. The required emergency aid has been evaluated at $23 million, and includes food, medicines, fuel for electricity generators, alum and chlorine to clean and disinfect the water supply, and new pipes and spare parts for the water system.
The United Nations committee on sanctions against Iraq has agreed to allow unrestricted food shipments, but so far donors have pledged—and, more importantly, contributed—only $4.5 million. The west has a humanitarian responsibility to provide and to speed up that aid. It should try by every means to bring about a conclusion to that ghastly war, so that millions of innocent men, women and children are not made to endure even more suffering.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Mark Lennox-Boyd)The hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) is to be congratulated on raising this subject for debate. The contribution of the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) was forceful. Everyone listening to the debate will share the outrage and indignation that they expressed.
The Government are under no illusions about the appalling nature of the Iraqi regime. We have made clear our deep concern about many aspects of Saddam Hussein's policies, and we have taken the firmest possible measures to register that fact. Our close involvement in removing Iraq from Kuwait is, as I am sure hon. Members would agree, just the latest evidence of our determination to ensure that Iraq is forced to respect internationally accepted standards of behaviour.
I address the House against the background of a considerable amount of activity at the United Nations in New York. The United Nations Security Council is currently discussing the terms for a formal ceasefire in the Gulf, and we anticipate a resolution before Easter. I am sure that there will be tough terms in any such resolution, and it is right that they should be tough. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made it clear that we want included in those terms a n internationally supervised destruction of Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological facilities and weapons, and of Iraq's non-conventional and ballistic missile capabilities. Iraq must never again be in a position to threaten the security of her neighbours.
I am sure that hon. Members will understand that, because of the deliberations, discussions and exchanges of views between the members of the Security Council in anticipation of a debate and resolution, I cannot go into much detail about what is being discussed in New York. The hon. Members for Workington and for Cynon Valley should be in no doubt of the determination being expressed by our representatives. I can say with some confidence that although the resolution may not satisfy every point raised by the hon. Member for Workington, I hope that there will be some aspects relevant to those points.
We shall continue closely to monitor the position in Iraq. The Baghdad regime can be in no doubt about our determination to ensure that it continues to meet its international obligations. In particular, no one here, or anywhere else in the world community, will tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the people of Iraq. We shall take the severest measures if the Iraqi regime resorts to the use of those dreadful weapons.
§ Mr. Bruce George (Walsall, South)I have supported virtually everything that the Government have done during the past few months. The Select Committee on Defence visited Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Bahrain last week. Is the Minister sure that in this volatile situation—especially with the requirement that Iraq complies with the terms of the ceasefire—there are sufficient British forces remaining in the Gulf for the next few months to act as a lever? As the Minister is well aware, it is a very delicate position which still requires the threat of the use of force to ensure compliance.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs the hon. Gentleman is aware, and as I have already made clear, it is not our intention to have permanent security forces in the middle east. 1110 However, I take his point. I am satisfied that we have the capacity to deal with any possible problem, and that we can reinforce that capacity if necessary. However, we are not contemplating the need for any such activity, and I speak today against that background.
One of the most important concerns has been Iraq's treatment of its Kurdish minorities over many years. Some 20 per cent. of the Iraqi population are Kurds, concentrated largely in the north and north-eastern areas. They are a distinct cultural and ethnic community. We have taken action whenever there has been clear evidence of human rights abuses against the Kurds. At the 1989 meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Britain co-sponsored a resolution condemning Iraq's human rights record. This year, the commission—with our support—has appointed a special rapporteur to investigate the human rights position in Iraq. We expect the Government of Iraq to co-operate with the rapporteur in completing his report.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursThe Minister has used such phrases as, "We expect the Government of Iraq to co-operate," and, "We have supported resolutions condemning," and so on. He must know that such words mean nothing to Saddam Hussein. Helicopter gunships are being used to bomb civilian populations with all sorts of weapons. What action are the Government, the United Nations, the Americans and the coalition forces taking to ensure that that stops today, before a major battle breaks out? I am referring not to protests or to condemnations but to action.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI should be grateful if the hon. Gentleman would allow me to make my speech in my own way. I have a passage in it that specifically deals with his question. I may not be able to satisfy him, but I will not shirk the issue.
In 1988–89, we reacted firmly to reports that the Iraqi Government were acting systematically to quell what they considered to be action by Kurdish rebels in the north, and to relocate large numbers of Iraqi Kurds against their will. The most notorious example of Saddam Hussein's brutality against the Kurds was the use of chemical weapons at Halabja in March 1988. Many hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed. When the massacre became known, we played a major role in securing the adoption of Secretary Council resolutions condemning Iraq's use of such weapons.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursIt may happen again tomorrow.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI wish that the hon. Gentleman would allow me to continue with my speech.
Britain has some of the strictest controls in the world to ensure that precursors for chemical weapons do not reach brutal regimes such as that in Iraq.
Before I deal with the specific points raised by the hon. Member for Workington, I want to say something about past arms sales to Iraq. Since 1980 Britain has had in place clear guidelines preventing the sale of arms to Iraq. Those guidelines were further tightened in 1985 and, despite the end of the war with Iran, the Government have quite deliberately maintained the policy of not selling arms to Saddam Hussein. British weapons were not used in the invasion of Kuwait; nor are they now being used by the Iraqi regime in its brutal repression of its own people.
1111 The hon. Gentleman drew attention to the need for tighter arms control. We have made it clear that arms proliferation is one of the issues that need to be addressed following Iraq's expulsion from Kuwait. I know that other leading members of the allied forces in the coalition share that concern. We shall certainly be considering what more we can do to control arms exports and we have already begun discussions on the subject with our EC colleagues, the United States and the Soviet Union. It is not a matter which will be in any way overlooked in the months ahead.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursWill there have to be legislation?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThat will have to be considered. I have heard what the hon. Gentleman has said.
We have, overthe years, been in contact with Kurdish groups in Iraq to exchange views with them and to hear their representations. Those contacts have continued and on 7 March the Minister of State, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg), met a representative delegation from the Iraqi opposition, including a representative of the Kurdish minority. The hon. Member for Workington referred to Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and we have also met and talked to him.
We recognise the intelligent way in which the PUK approaches its problems. We welcome the desire of the Iraqi opposition to co-operate and their common platform of democracy and respect for human rights in Iraq, as well as their wish to preserve Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. It is of considerable significance that they should adopt such a position. We share those goals. They would allow the Kurds in Iraq their legitimate right to self-expression, which has always been our goal and will continue to be so.
§ Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North)Does the Minister accept that one of the great injustices in the region since the first world war has been the treatment of the Kurdish people? It is a deeply felt belief among Kurdish people throughout the region that they have been suppressed and oppressed by the national Governments and by the ignorance of the international community. Will the Minister make it clear that the British Government accept the right of Kurdish people to their own culture, language and autonomy—it is clearly stated by the Kurdish Democratic party and the PUK—within the national frontiers of Iraq? That would go a long way towards helping people to realise that the Kurdish people have been so badly treated for so long.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI think that everyone is aware of the interest shown by many hon. Members on both sides of the House in the Kurdish people and how they have been brought into focus as a result of the Gulf war. As I say, we share the goals of the Kurdish people to enjoy their legitimate right of self-expression. That has always been our goal, and that encompasses and underlines the hon. Gentleman's point.
§ Mr. David Tredinnick (Bosworth)I apologise for the fact that I was not able to be here at the beginning of the debate, but on that point does my hon. Friend agree that there is considerable concern about the genocide that is 1112 taking place in the country? Might it be possible for some supplies to be airlifted to those areas that are suffering hardship?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI shall deal with those points, which were raised by the hon. Member for Workington.
The hon. Gentleman referred to the helicopter gunships that appear to be being used in Iraq in breach of the ceasefire. The terms of the present de facto ceasefire—we have not had the United Nations resolution—relate to the conflict with Iraq over Kuwait. It does not relate to the internal situation in Iraq. However, the coalition made it clear in the terms of the de facto ceasefire that fixed-wing aircraft should not be allowed to fly. As the hon. Gentleman knows, action has been taken to ensure that fixed-wing aircraft do not fly.
However, while we deeply deplore the use of helicopter gunships, we have to accept that there is no Security Council resolution or mandate to deal with the action that the Iraqis have taken with helicopters. It is not a part of the ceasefire and it is not a part of a United Nations resolution. However distressing it is for me to say this to the hon. Gentleman, and however distressing it is for him to hear it, I think that he will accept that all of us have to recognise that a mandate from the United Nations is essential to underline and to give support to any hostile actions in the Gulf.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursBut over and above any decisions taken by the United Nations, General Schwarzkopf came to an oral and written agreement, part of which was that helicopters could be used inside Iraq only for humanitarian and internal administrative purposes. So it could be said that the war ended on the basis of an agreement which is now being breached. Therefore, irrespective of the United Nations position, surely we have some responsibility in enforcing what has already been agreed. In addition, resolution 678, which refers to peace and security in the region and the restoration thereof, is also being breached. Surely we have a responsibility to uphold that resolution without any further United Nations resolution being necessary.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI note what the hon. Gentleman says, and I shall consider what he reports as the informal agreement of General Schwarzkopf, but I think that he will agree that we cannot make much progress in our debates here if we seek to interpret in minute detail the possible consequences of all United Nations resolutions. As I said to him, the United Nations is debating the matter and we expect further clarification of what transpires there. I shall look into the point that he makes about General Schwarzkopf's agreement, but the de facto ceasefire dealt with fixed-wing aircraft, not helicopters, which is one of the difficulties that we have to face.
The hon. Member for Workington, I think the hon. Member for Cynon Valley, and certainly my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Mr. Tredinnick) referred to food aid. We are greatly concerned about the genuine humanitarian needs of all Iraqis. We have already contributed nearly $5 million to the Red Cross Gulf appeal and nearly $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency appeal. There is clearly a role for the United Nations and its agencies, but it would be unwise for me to say too much about activity to bring humanitarian relief 1113 and food to the Kurdish people. We are facing a civil war, in which all attempts will be made to prevent any assistance of that kind reaching its objectives.
§ Mrs. ClwydI raised the question of humanitarian aid and the fact that so little has been pledged. I am not asking the Government to go into detail; I am saying that the people of Iraq are suffering greatly. Is Britain prepared to make a further contribution over and above what it has already made, in particular, to aid the people in Kurdistan, whom we know are fighting a pitched battle at the moment? Surely supply lines can be opened up through Turkey. Will the Minister facilitate that?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI would like to comment on what the hon. Lady says, but she knows that I cannot give an undertaking from the Dispatch Box to change Government policy. Certainly the issue has been raised and will be considered.
In the last minute I shall touch on one or two other matters. An annual report was produced by the Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Ahtisaari on the present situation in Iraq, which makes the most depressing reading and is a testament to the misguided policies of Saddam Hussein. We are doing all that we can to assist, as I have said, and I have noted what the hon. Member for Cynon Valley said. However, we have also made it clear that we believe that aid should reach all areas of Iraq and we shall continue to do all that we can to alleviate the suffering of all the Iraqi people.
In conclusion, we will shed no tears if and when Saddam Hussein is removed from power. That must be a matter for the Iraqi people, with whom we have no quarrel and whom we do not wish to suffer further under political tyranny. We wish to see a truly democratic Iraq in which the Kurdish minorities enjoy full political and human rights, and we look forward to the emergence of an Iraq that can once again be welcomed as a responsible member of the international community.