§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the British Embassy in Oman received any communication from Mr. Jeremy Cripps, former director of budgets in the Omani tendering board on the subject of the arrest or death of Mr. Robin Walsh.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any information about the evidence presented at the administrative hearing in Oman in the case of Mr. Robin Walsh in relation to his guilt of the offences which he was accused.
§ Mr. LuceWe are aware of the circumstances of the Mr. Walsh's detention but I cannot comment on any of the evidence presented.
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§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will name the firm of solicitors which has had communications with his Department, as representing members of the Walsh family.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what occasions representatives of the British Embassy in Oman met Mr. Robin Walsh on 3 4 5 and 6 July 1983.
§ Mr. LuceNone. As I told the hon. Member on 19 July at column319, Mr. Walsh did not seek contact with Her Majesty's embassy before he was imprisoned.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the procedures followed in the administrative hearings in Oman in the case of Mr. Robin Walsh.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why the cries of Mr. Robin Walsh in Rumais prison for help before he died were ignored by British army officers.
§ Mr. LuceWe have no knowledge of any alleged cries for help. As far as we are aware, there were no British army officers in or near Rumais prison at the time.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many days after the death of Mr. Robin Walsh the British embassy received a copy of the post mortem report and certificate of death.
§ Mr. LuceHer Majesty's embassy Muscat saw a copy of the local death certificate, signed by a pathologist following a post mortem, in order to enter Mr. Walsh's death in its consular register of deaths on 16 July 1983, that is eight days after Mr. Walsh's death.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many hours after the death of Mr. Robin Walsh his body was found.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has as to whether Mr. Robin Walsh's detention in an Omani prison complied with the Omani authorities' official definition of formal official detention;
(2) what information he has as to the type and nature of the arresting instruction issued in the case of Mr. Robin Walsh in Oman;
(3) under whose instructions Major P. Greaves arrested Mr. Robin Walsh and placed him in Rumais prison.
§ Mr. LuceI have nothing to add to the replies I gave the hon. Member on 19 and 24 July at columns317 and 595. Comments on these procedures are properly for the Omani authorities. Major Greaves is a contract officer, and his instructions are totally a matter for the Omani authorities.
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§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why no official medical examination was carried out in the case of Mr. Robin Walsh prior, during or after his imprisonment.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether British officials were consulted over the possibility of deduction from Mr. Walsh's salary for tender board losses.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether British Army officials were consulted over the decision of the Omani deputy Minister for Security and Defence to give verbal instructions to his under-secretary for the transportation of Mr. Robin Walsh to the United Kingdom as an alternative to imprisonment;
(2) whether the case of Mr. Robin Walsh was referred to the Omani deputy Minister for Security and Defence by an Omani under-secretary of State on the instruction or recommendation of a British officer.
§ Mr. LuceI have no knowledge of any such decision and I cannot comment on internal Omani procedures.