HC Deb 08 December 1994 vol 251 cc313-4W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to propose the complete demilitarisation of the safe areas in Bosnia.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

We welcome the United Nations Secretary-General's report of 1 December to the Security Council on safe areas. The report includes proposals on the demilitarisation of the safe areas. It is now being studied by the Security Council.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of the UN-declared safe areas are occupied by armed Bosnian Muslim troops; and what are the reasons for their presence.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Bosnian Government troops are present in all the safe areas in Bosnia: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde, Srebrenica and Bihac.

The Security Council resolutions relating to the designation of safe areas—819, 824 and 836—do not require that Bosnian Government troops be withdrawn from these areas.