§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to have the Abou Daoud affair and the fight against organised international terrorism put on the agenda for discussion at the next EEC Council of Ministers (Foreign Affairs) meeting.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will raise in the Council of Ministers the matter of the action of the French Government 221W in releasing the Arab terrorist leader, Abou Daoud, as a breach of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism.
§ Dr. OwenIt is for States to deal with individual cases within their jurisdiction in accordance with the law. As I told the hon. Member for Shrewsbury (Sir J. Langford-Holt) in reply to a question on 17th January, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism is not yet in force; it opens for signature on 27th January on which date Her Majesty's Government intend to sign the Convention. Her Majesty's Government together with the other member Governments of the European Community, have made plain their abhorrence of acts of terrorism, notably in the European Council's statement of 13th July 1976. The European Council's statement is being followed up in the political co-operation framework and a group of senior officials has been established for this purpose.