§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What revenue they estimate has been raised by Saddam Hussein by the export of oil products to Turkey, in breach of UN sanctions; how many trucks they estimate are passing daily in either direction, and what amount of oil product they are carrying.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyWe estimate that approximately 600 trucks per day are crossing the border between northern Iraq and Turkey. The trucks are not oil tankers, but adapted trucks; no reliable estimates are therefore available for the amount of oil carried per truck or the revenue generated.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will confirm that under UN Security Council Resolution 661 of 6 August 1990, medicines and foodstuffs required for humanitarian purposes are exempted from sanctions against Iraq, and that under Resolution 706 of 15 August 1991 and 712 of 19 September 1991, Iraq can sell 1.6 billion dollars worth of oil, of which 900 million dollars could be applied to the purchase of medication and foodstuffs; and what further steps they consider the Security Council might take to persuade Saddam Hussein that he should take advantage of this concession.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyI confirm that the resolutions in question established these arrangements. The Iraqi Government has been pressed on many occasions by the UN Secretary General and the Members of the Security Council to make use of the provisions in Security Council Resolutions 706 and 712. They have refused to do so.
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