§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what circumstances Her Majesty's Government would authorise British forces to carry out a pre-emptive attack on Iraqi forces on Iraqi territory; and in what circumstances Her Majesty's Government would support military forces of any other country carrying out such pre-emptive military action.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggAny decision relating to the use of force would depend on the circumstances at the time.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will arrange for reports, submitted by Rolf Ekeus, the head of the UN Special Commission for Iraq to the UN, to be placed in the Library; what are the main conclusions of the reports submitted by Mr. Ekeus, to date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe report of Ambassador Ekeus on the status of Iraqi compliance with section C of Security Council Resolution 687, UN document S/1994/1138, and the parallel IAEA report, S/1994/1151, have been placed in the Library of the House. Conclusions can be found in paragraphs 37–39, and 49 respectively.
These are thorough, comprehensive and well-balanced reports which do credit to the professionalism of the UN special commission, UNSCOM, and the IAEA in their 581W task of uncovering Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme, establishing current capabilities and setting up a monitoring and verification regime to ensure that no such weapons can be regenerated in the future.