§ 66. Mrs. Castleasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is now in a position to make a further statement on his discussions with the United States of America regarding the supply by them of nuclear weapons to the Middle East.
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreMy right hon. and learned Friend has now studied the exact text of Dr. Malik's speech to the Lebanese Parliament, to which the hon. Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) referred on 4th December. Dr. Malik's precise words were that he could assure the Lebanese Parliament that the Lebanon could obtain from the United States all the defensive material of which it had need and which it was capable of using. Later on, after referring to the Lebanese Government's serious preoccupation to establish in the Lebanon the most modern means of defence, he said that they hoped they would not have too long to wait before tele-guided missiles formed part of their military material.
Her Majesty's Government are not of course answerable for speeches by the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs in his own Parliament, but I should point out that there is no mention in the speech of nuclear weapons. I can also reaffirm, as my right hon. and learned Friend said on 4th December, that he had no discussion with the United States on the possibility of the provision of nuclear weapons to the Middle East.