§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received concerning industrial activities undertaken at the Al Daura plant, near Baghdad. [159729]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Iraqi acting Minister for Foreign Affairs wrote to the UN Secretary-General on 28 March requesting that funds from the UN oil-for-food programme be used for the reactivation of the Al Daura facility for the production of foot and mouth vaccine.
In the continuing absence of UN monitors, the United Kingdom has opposed this request for reactivation of a plant known to have been used for biological weapons production in the past.