HL Deb 06 February 1992 vol 535 cc21-2WA
Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why, since it was known at least as early as March 1990 when Her Majesty's Customs intercepted nuclear triggers at Heathrow, that Iraq had a clandestine atomic bomb project, they did not then call for the activation of the special inspection provisions by the International Atomic Energy Agency referred to by Earl Howe at col. 629 of Hansard on 20th January.

The Earl of Caithness

Special inspections can only be of use if specific sites can be identified for inspection. In the case of Iraq, it only became possible to identify appropriate sites for such inspections after the Gulf War.