§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Government first became aware of aircraft flying in logistical or any other support of combat forces in the air exclusion zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina before 16 November.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesSince the establishment of air and ground-based observation, we have become aware of reports of flights by military aircraft which have not been approved by the United Nations protection force. We have had no confirmation of the purpose of such flights, or evidence that the aircraft were used in combat missions.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral86W answer to the hon. Member for Western Isles on 25 November, Official Report, column 854, to what extent the ban on military flights imposed by United Nations resolutions 781 and 786 is limited to aircraft flying combat missions; and to what extent it extends to any flights with a military purpose, with the exceptions of the United Nations protection force flights or other flights in support of United Nations operations or resolutions.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesUnited Nations Security Council resolutions 781 and 786 ban military flights in the airspace above Bosnia-Herzegovina. The ban does not apply to UNPROFOR flights or to other flights in support of United Nations operations, including humanitarian assistance.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what definition he uses of aircraft flying combat missions in his assessment of contraventions of the exclusion zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe United Nations protection force has produced guidelines which define a military flight for the purposes of United Nations Security Council resolutions 781 and 786 as any flight by a fixed-wing or rotary aircraft that has a military purpose. This excludes flights with a humanitarian purpose, or which are judged by UNPROFOR to be in the pursuance of the peace process.
We have no confirmed reports of aircraft being involved in combat activity over Bosnia-Herzegovina since 13 October.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will now make it his policy in the Security Council of the United Nations to press for further measures necessary to enforce the ban on military flights in the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as provided for in resolution 786.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe United Nations Security Council made clear in resolution 786 its determination to consider urgently further measures necessary to enforce the ban on military flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the case of further violations reported to it.