§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which officials in(a) his Department and (b) the Ministry of Defence were informed of the facility extended by the German Government to British diplomats, to communicate with officials in the United Kingdom from Freetown, Sierra Leone, in the years 1997 and 1998; and on which occasions this facility was used. [66628]
§ Mr. Tony LloydMr. Penfold had access to normal communication whilst at the High Commission in Freetown and whilst in the United Kingdom. Whilst he was in Conakry, Mr. Penfold was able to receive classified telegrams via the German Embassy but used commercial fax facilities for sending messages to London.
The following British Diplomatic Missions were informed in August 1997 that telegrams could be passed to Conakry for Mr. Penfold via Bonn:
Accra, Dakar, Banjul, Abidjan, Lagos, Abuja, Washington, UKMIS New York.Telegrams that were sent to Bonn for forwarding were marked to this effect and circulated to officials in Government Departments in London including the FCO and MOD.