§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now withdraw British forces seconded to the Sultan of Oman on the grounds that certain insurgents taken prisoner have been put on trial and sentenced to death contrary to accepted standards of behaviour towards prisoners of war.
§ Mr. JohnNo. I believe that my hon. Friend is referring to the Omanis apprehended in Northern Oman last October, four of whom were subsequently sentenced to death, having been found guilty of plotting assassination and armed revolution against the Sultanate of Oman. They were not prisoners of war but members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman, a terrorist organisation.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give details of any casualties suffered by members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in Dhofar in April and May of the current year.
§ Mr. JohnI regret that Captain P. A. Mann, 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, a volunteer serving on loan with the Sultan of Oman's armed forces, was acci-638W dentally killed during a mortar firing exercise in Dhofar on 13th April 1975.