§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they know how bullets manufactured by ICI at its Kynoch factory in Birmingham came to be used by the security forces in E1 Salvador in 212WA April 1981, given the embargo in force on all British arms sales to that country.
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Lord Carrington)We have seen reports that an ICI 7mm Mauser ammunition label was found in El Salvador. ICI have not made ammunition under the ICI brand name since 1962, when their then subsidiary Imperial Metal Industries (IMI) was formed and took over ammunition manufacture. IMI last made ammunition of this type in April 1966. Detailed records relating to arms sales during this period no longer exist. It is not, therefore, possible to determine where or how this ammunition reached El Salvador. To the best of our knowledge the Salvadorean army are no longer equipped with weapons of this calibre, though it is possible that some may remain in service with territorial units, or have been captured by guerrillas.