Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the reasons for convening the most recent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in camera; and what was the United Kingdom's position on this matter;
(2) on how many occasions in the last 30 years the Security Council of the United Nations has met in secret; when it last met in secret prior to February 1991; and what was the reason.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Security Council meets in private whenever discussing or deciding upon any recommendation to the General Assembly regarding the appointment of the Secretary-General. It also meets in private to discuss drafts of its annual report. Apart from494W these meetings, another five Security Council meetings have been held in private in the 30 years up to 23 February 1991. Prior to 14 February 1991, the last private meeting of the Security Council was on 6 November 1975, to discuss western Sahara. The United Kingdom proposed the procedural motion in the Security Council on 13 February which called for the following day's meeting on the situation between Iraq and Kuwait to be held in private, in view of the need for sober consideration of the matter away from the glare of publicity. The Council agree that the United Nations delegations of all member states were free to attend the meeting, but the press and public were excluded.