§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland(a) when, (b) how many and (c) for what periods RUC officers will be deployed in the former Yugoslavia; under whose discipline they will operate; and in which areas they will be deployed. [101880]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 15 December 1999]: In accordance with the provisions of Section 8 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998, the RUC have seven officers serving with the United Nations International Police Task Force in Bosnia, four since March 1999 and three from October 1999, where they are monitoring the performance of the Bosnian police service. At the end of November, 60 RUC officers took up positions with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo where they are undertaking an executive policing role pending a new Kosovan police service being trained and ready to take over law enforcement there. All of the secondments are for a period of 12 months and the officers are under the command of the United Nations Police Commissioner.