Iraq (Hansard, 18 November 1992)

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the information available to him from aircraft surveillance about the deployment and operations of Iraqi ground forces in southern Iraq.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
RAF Tornado operations, in association with those of our coalition partners, confirm that the Iraqi army is deployed in considerable strength in southern Iraq. There is some indication of small-scale activity around the periphery of the marshlands but no evidence of any renewal of major offensive operations.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to the United Kingdom so far of monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolution 688; and whether the United Kingdom will receive any financial assistance to cover the costs of monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolution 688.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
So far the United Kingdom has committed additional expenditure of some £11 million on operations to ensure Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolution 688. At present the United Kingdom has not received any financial assistance with these costs.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if there have been any occasions when Iraqi anti-aircraft radar has locked on to RAF flights operating over southern Iraq under United Nations resolutions.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
It is not our practice to release operational details of this sort.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the source of the technology used by the Iraqi defence industry to manufacture artillery shells.

§ Mr. Aitken
On the evidence available over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, provided Iraq with dual-use technology which could have been used in the manufacture of artillery or other weapons systems.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties have been flown by RAF(a) Tornado GR1, (b) Tornado GR1a and (c) VC-10 aircraft monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolution 688 since 27 August.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
Between 27 August 1992 and 16 November 1992 the RAF has flown the following numbers of sorties in respect of the no-fly zone over Iraq south of 32 degrees:

Sorties

(a) Tornado GR1 87

(b) Tornado GR1a 47

(c) VC-10 85