Mr. Robert HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the requests to the Government for aid and assistance for demining in Angola in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [26773]
§ Mr. BaldryThe first requests for assistance with humanitarian demining in Angola were received from British non-governmental organisations—Halo Trust and the Mines Advisory Group—in 1994. Pending conclusion of the Lusaka peace talks, we provided £482,243 for demining training, marking and surveying. Since then, we have provided £1,242,825 for expansion of their efforts in Bie, Huambo and Moxico provinces. We are encouraging the European Commission to help co-finance their activities. We are also supporting the UN's central mine action office in Luanda with two key posts—the mines training officer and operations room manager—plus related office support and equipment—£230,000.