§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to(a) the Syrian Government, (b) the Syrian ambassador in London, (c) the head of Hizballah and (d) the International Red Cross in respect of medical treatment for Mr. Elhannan Tannenbaum during his captivity. [88590]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienHMG has made a number of representations to governments in the middle east about the fate of the missing Israelis, including Elhannan Tannenbaum, and will continue to do so, pressing particularly for access to the hostages for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Most recently I raised them with the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouk Al Shara'a, in London during the Syrian President's official visit to the UK on 16 to 18 December 2002. Our ambassadors in Beirut and Damascus also raised the missing men with their host governments, who took note of our interest on 3 October 2002 and 19 September 2002 respectively. On 12 December 2001, our ambassador in Beirut raised hostage taking in general terms with Hizballah. On each occasion we emphasised our absolute opposition to hostage taking, and that those holding hostages should free them at once.
Our ambassador in Tel Aviv met families of the missing men, including Mr. Tannenbaum's son, on 9 September 2002