§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conclusions his Department has drawn from the consequences of the explosion at Bhopal as regards the results of bombing chemical and biological weapons facilities. [62662]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThe accidental explosion at a chemical factory in Bhopal, India in 1984 provided a large amount of information on the dangers in the storage of very large quantities of toxic chemicals, and on the possible consequences of the destruction, by accident or otherwise, of such storage facilities.
We advise caution, however, before this information is directly applied to other scenarios. In particular, we do not consider the information on Bhopal forms a suitable basis from which to construct predictions of the consequences of bombing of chemical or biological weapons facilities.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely target accuracy in possible bombing campaigns in Iraq. [62656]
§ Mr. George RobertsonI am not prepared to discuss detailed operational issues under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, I can say that only precision guided weaponry would be used.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to ensure the safety of those with diplomatic status in Baghdad in the event of a bombing campaign. [62657]
§ Mr. George RobertsonI am not prepared to discuss detailed operational issues under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. I can say, however, that all relevant factors are taken into account in selecting targets.