§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current support for the UN MINORSO team in the western Sahara; what plans there are to continue this; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe United Kingdom has contributed 14 military observers and the chief of staff to the MINORSO operations since September 1991. We keep all UN commitments under review as operations' mandates develop, and informed the UN in March this year that we were considering the withdrawal of our personnel. We confirmed to the UN the decision to withdraw in August 1993, and the United Kingdom military contribution to the force is now running down. All 15 British military personnel will have withdrawn by the end of October. The UN has so far identified Malaysian, Ghanaian and Bangladeshi replacements for 12 of the departing British observers and expects to fill the remaining three positions in the near future.