Zimbabwe (Hansard, 23 May 2002)

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will call upon the Australian Government to ban President Mugabe and his Ministers from attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Brisbane; [38417]
(2) if he will urge the Australian Government to ban President Mugabe and his Ministers from attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Brisbane and from entering Australia until 10 March; [39800]
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(3) what discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on whether Australia should ban President Mugabe and his Ministers from travelling to or entering Australia ahead of the presidential election in Zimbabwe on 10 March during the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting on 1 March; [39788]
(4) what discussions (a) he has had and (b) plans to have with Commonwealth partners on whether President Mugabe should attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting during the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting on 1 March. [39791]

§ Mr. Straw
[holding answer 4 March 2002]: President Mugabe did not, in the event, attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Brisbane. Attendance at the meeting was a matter for the Australian Government.

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he will recommend his Commonwealth colleagues take regarding the present situation in Zimbabwe during the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting on 1 March. [39787]

§ Mr. Straw
[holding answer 4 March 2002]: At the CMAG meeting on 1 March we urged our Commonwealth partners to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. Zimbabwe was duly suspended from the Council of the Commonwealth on 19 March.

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the European Union observers who have recently returned from Zimbabwe will publish a report on their findings. [38416]

§ Mr. Straw
The European Union observer team was withdrawn from Zimbabwe before the elections took place, as the Government of Zimbabwe prevented it from carrying out its mandate. The team did not publish a report.

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy not to engage in dialogue or attend meetings with President Mugabe during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Brisbane. [38415]

§ Mr. Straw
I was unable to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Brisbane, at which President Mugabe was also not present. My noble Friend Baroness Amos attended plenary meetings at which Zimbabwe was represented, but did not engage in dialogue with representatives of the Zimbabwe Government.

§ Mr. Rosindell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications of Council Common Position 2002/203/CFSP of 11 March, repealing 2001/83/CFSP, for the Zimbabwean military; and what steps he will take to ensure that EU aid is properly accounted for. [57876]

§ Mr. MacShane
The Council Common Position referred to supports the implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement and relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions within the framework of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A key element of the Lusaka agreement is the full withdrawal of all foreign troops, including Zimbabweans. This is also in accordance with the Security Council Resolutions.
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The European Commission now focuses its aid for Zimbabwe on humanitarian assistance and support for the health sector to combat HIV/AIDS. It has systems in place to closely monitor its assistance, and ensure that it is properly accounted for.

§ Mr. Rosindell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the European Community has banned exports of electronic jamming equipment designed to prevent the detonation by remote of improvised bombs to Zimbabwe under EC 310/2002 Annex II. [57869]

§ Mr. MacShane
EC Regulation 310/2002 of 18 February 2002 places inter alia an embargo on sale or supply to Zimbabwe of equipment which might be used for internal repression. Annex II of that Regulation contains an agreed EC list of equipment subject to the embargo. This list was originally established in the context of EC Regulation 926/98 of 27 April 1998 which placed inter alia an embargo on the sale or supply to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of equipment which might be used for internal repression or terrorism. "Electronic jamming equipment especially designed to prevent the detonation by radio remote control of improvised devices and specially designed components therefor" was included in the list annexed to Regulation 926/98 because of the potential for such equipment being used in countering anti-terrorism measures.
This embargo is in addition to the full scope arms embargo imposed by the Council Common Position (2002/145/CFSP).