HC Deb 01 June 1998 vol 313 cc142-6W
Mr. Howard

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the procedures which officials must follow when asking for an inquiry by Customs and Excise officials. [41727]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 12 May 1998]In the normal way FCO officials refer allegations which they believe might require investigation to Customs and Excise officers.

Further action is for Customs and Excise to determine given that in such matters they are acting as an independent prosecuting authority of the Crown.

Mr. Keith Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of his departmental officials are specifically responsible for policy relating to arms sales to Sierra Leone. [41596]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 12 May 1998]Within the FCO, arms sales are dealt with by the geographical department concerned in consultation with the Non-Proliferation Department.

Mr. Howard

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings were held between Government representatives and President Kabbah of Sierra Leone while the President was in exile; who was present at such meetings; where and when they were held; what was their purpose; and what was discussed at them. [41800]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 13 May 1998]Officials from the High Commission had numerous meetings with President Kabbah in Conakry. Officials also met him when he visited the UK in October 1997.

The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Lloyd), met President Kabbah on 20 October when he addressed the seminar 'Restoring Sierra Leone to Democracy'; on 25 October, with the Minister of State at the Department for International Development; and on 31 March 1998 when he visited Sierra Leone as a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group mission.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, met him informally during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh in October 1997. I met the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone in the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting in September 1997.

It is not normal practice to release the records of discussions with foreign Governments, but all relevant documents will be available to Sir Thomas Legg for his investigation.

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many reporting telegrams his Department received from Freetown and Conakry since 1 May 1997; and how many of these were copied to the private office of a Minister. [42096]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 14 May 1998]From 1 May 1997 to 18 May 1998 the FCO received 141 telegrams from Freetown, 102 of which were copied to my office and that of my hon. Friend the Minister of State.

During the period when Freetown was evacuated, the High Commission operated out of a hotel room in Conakry and communicated with the FCO by fax. No record has been kept of the total number of faxes received during this period. However 48 of these faxes were retransmitted as FCO telegrams, 43 of which were copied to Ministerial offices as above.

Mr. Howard

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the reports submitted by the Committee of the UN Security Council established by paragraph 10 of UNSCR 1132. [41967]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 14 May 1998]The Sierra Leone Sanctions Committee has yet to make a periodic report.

Mr. Howard

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by whose authority repairs were effected by Royal Naval personnel to a helicopter exclusively used by a Sandline International crew; and if this constituted a breach of the UN arms embargo. [41969]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 14 May 1998]I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key), on 18 May 1998,Official Report, column 258. We do not believe that the repair of this helicopter constituted a breach of UNSCR 1132.

Mr. Keith Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date Ministers and officials in his Department first consulted ministers and officials in the Ministry of Defence concerning the use of UK military assets to help restore the Government of Sierra Leone. [41830]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 14 May 1998]UK military assets were not used to overthrow the junta in Sierra Leone, which fled from Freetown on 13 February. The instructions to HMS Monmouth, and later to HMS Cornwall, were to deploy to the vicinity of Sierra Leone to be prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the people of Sierra Leone, to support our diplomatic efforts there, and to assist in the return of the British High Commissioner, should the democratically elected Government be restored. The FCO and the MOD liaised closely throughout this period about the activities of HMS Monmouth and HMS Cornwall.

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any official of his Department was in contact with officials of the Customs and Excise on 28 or 29 April in connection with the investigation into Sandline International. [42313]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 18 May 1998]The FCO fully cooperated with the Customs and Excise investigation throughout April and early May.

Mr. Faber

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Manchester, Central, discussed the activities of Sandline International with Mr. John Flynn at their meeting on 19 March. [42284]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 18 May 1998]No.

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions on which his Department's Overseas Visitors Unit arranged calls by President Kabbah of Sierra Leone on Sandline International during his visits to the United Kingdom since 1 May 1997. [43206]

Mr. Robin Cook

The Overseas Visitors section has not arranged any calls by President Kabbah on Sandline International.

Mr. Howard

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he took after he was informed on 6 February that military intervention was planned in Sierra Leone. [42625]

Mr. Robin Cook

I took note of the reports of the military action by forces of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) against the junta in Sierra Leone. In the following weeks, the following actions were taken by the FCOthe Permanent Representative to the UN was instructed to seek an explanation from members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of five Foreign Ministers during a briefing for Security Council members held on 6 February and at the subsequent meeting on 6 March; we drafted the EU Presidential Statement on Sierra Leone issued on 20 February. on 20 February, we instructed our Missions in ECOWAS capitals to carry out a joint demarche with EU Troika partners urging inter alia that ECOMOG open up humanitarian supply lines, and assist in the rescue and evacuation of EU nations held hostage in Sierra Leone; the FCO liaised closely with MOD about instructions to HMS Monmouth on 10 February to proceed to the waters off Freetown to stand by to provide humanitarian assistance, HMS Monmouth was replaced by HMS Cornwall which entered Freetown on 1 March; we contributed to the drawing up of the statement issued by the president of the Security Council on 26 February; we contributed to the drawing up and adoption of UNSCR 1156 on 16 March 1998 which welcomed President Kabbah's return to Freetown and lifted the prohibition on the supply of petrol and petroleum products to Sierra Leone; we contributed to the drawing up and adoption of UNSCR 1162 on 17 April, which authorised the deployment of up to 10 United Nations military liaison and security advisory personnel to work under the Secretary General's Special Envoy. HMG is contributing one officer to the deployment; we donated £2 million to the UN Trust Fund established in February to support the demobilisation and disarmament process, and instructed our diplomatic missions in the EU and elsewhere to urge their host governments to contribute towards the Trust Fund and to provide humanitarian relief for Sierra Leone.

Sir John Stanley

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if his Department received telegrams from the British High Commissioner for Sierra Leone warning that Sandline might breach the arms embargo; [42602]

(2) if his Department communicated the terms of the Sierra Leone (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1997 to the British High Commissioner for Sierra Leone. [42603]

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions on which Mr. Peter Penfold visited the offices of Sandline International since 1 May 1997. [43207]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 20 May 1998]I refer the right hon. and hon. Member to my statement in the House during the debate on 18 May 1998,Official Report, columns 604–11, in which I announced the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC into allegations about Government involvement with the supply of arms to Sierra Leone by UK citizens and firms, and said that the Terms of Reference would be placed in the Library of the House. I intend to publish the report of the investigation.

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the written brief received by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Manchester Central, before(a) the visit to CHOGM of President Kabbah, (b) his speech to the seminar in London on restoring Sierra Leone to democracy in October 1997, (c) the decision to invite HM Customs and Excise to conduct an investigation into Lord Avebury's allegations on 10 March, (d) the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting in London on 2 and 3 March, (e) the decision to send HMS Cornwall to Sierra Leone, (f) the debate on Sierra Leone in the House on 12 March, (g) his visit to Sierra Leone in March, and (h) his evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 5 May; and if he will list the oral briefings received in connection with those occasions, stating who was present when oral briefings or office meetings took place about Sierra Leone. [42099]

Mr. Robin Cook

[holding answer 14 May 1998]I refer the hon. Member to my statement in the House during the debate on 18 May 1998,Official Report, columns 604–11, in which I announced the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC into allegations about Government involvement with the supply of arms to Sierra Leone by UK citizens and firms, and said that the Terms of Reference would be placed in the Library of the House. I intend to publish the report of the investigation.