Iraq (Hansard, 20 November 1992)

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of Slate for Defence if he will now make it his policy to release information on all of the meetings that considered the export of defence equipment to Iraq at any part of their proceedings, including details of the persons present; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Aitken
It is not our policy to release the names of those officials involved, nor to release details of the proceedings of such meetings.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications he has had with his NATO counterparts relating to the exports of British defence equipment to Iraq.

§ Mr. Aitken
There have been general discussions between my Department and the defence departments of some NATO allies on the question of Iraqi military procurement.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the(a) meetings with representatives of the Iraqi Government and (b) visits to Iraq by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials from his Department since 1985, giving the date, location and names of individuals involved, and subjects discussed; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Aitken
This information is not held centrally. I will write to the hon. Member.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weight was given in assessing the acceptability, in relation to his Ministry's responsibilities, of applications for export of goods to Iraq of that country's use of chemical weapons.

§ Mr. Aitken
This was one of the factors taken into account in the application of the guidelines governing exports to Iraq.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what precautions were taken by his Ministry to ensure that British military secrets were not revealed to the Iraqi Government as a result of the export of British goods that could be used to manufacture munitions or other types of military equipment.

§ Mr. Aitken
Equipment and technologies with a security classification are invariably subject to particularly close assessment before their export is permitted.