Lockerbie (Hansard, 6 March 1995)

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met Amre Moussa, Foreign Minister of Egypt, to discuss the Lockerbie situation; and what contact he has had since.
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§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I have regular discussions with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, most recently on 21 November 1994.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs following his undertaking given in Glasgow on 3 February to look into the claims made by the Bradford police surgeon, Dr. David Fieldhouse, what action he has taken to verify Dr. Fieldhouse's claims about the body count at Lockerbie on 21, 22 and 23 December 1988.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs undertook to look into the apparent difference between a reply he gave to a question from the hon. Member for Linlithgow during the Adjournment debate on 1 February and Dr. Fieldhouse's subsequent statement. He wrote to Dr. Fieldhouse on 13 February explaining the basis for his reply. He has also written to the hon. Member about this issue.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has sought from Juge Bruguière in France, in relation to the UTA case, with particular reference to support for a Libyan connection for Lockerbie.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
We have had regular contact with Juge Bruguière about the UTA case ever since he began his inquiry, in the course of which he has issued warrants in respect of several Libyan nationals.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will enter into discussions with Dr. Esmat Abdul Meguid with a view to resolving the Lockerbie case.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I discussed the Lockerbie issue with Dr. Meguid, the Secretary General of the Arab League, in November 1994. Her Majesty's ambassador at Cairo has regular discussions with Dr Meguid.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs following the court case, Air Maltav. Granada Television, and pursuant to the Prime Minister's answer of 31 January, Official Report, column 558, what evidence has been found to substantiate a Malta connection with the Lockerbie bombing.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Two Libyan nationals are accused of having placed, or having caused to be placed, the bomb which destroyed flight PA 103 on board an Air Malta flight from Luqa airport on 21 December 1988. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I cannot comment on the detail of the evidence against the two accused while criminal proceedings are pending. The recent out-of-court settlement between Air Malta and Granada Television has no bearing on the prosecution case against the two accused. I understand that the story in relation to which Air Malta brought the action was based on allegations different in detail from those contained in the warrants for the arrest of the two Libyans accused.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration has been given to evidence involving officials of countries other than Libya in relation to Lockerbie; and what efforts Her Majesty's Government have made to obtain such evidence concerning nationals of countries, other than Libya, undertaken on 20 January 1992,Official Report, column 159.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The Lockerbie investigators have given exhaustive consideration to all information relevant6W to the Lockerbie bombing. The possible involvement by nationals of a number of countries has been very closely investigated. Despite the unprecedented scale of the investigation, the available evidence does not support charges against the nationals of any country besides Libya. But the investigation remains open and any relevant new information will be considered.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason Her Majesty's Government supported the United States decision that the Montreal convention, requiring attempts at conciliation and arbitration, should not be applied in relation to Pan Am 103 and Lockerbie; and what the preferred action was through the UN Security Council.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The question of the applicability of the Montreal convention is pending before the International Court of Justice. We and the US Government referred to the UN Security Council Libya's failure to surrender the two accused of the Lockerbie bombing in view of the frequently expressed concerns of the United Nations about the effect of terrorism on international peace and security.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has had from Esmat Abdul Meguid on the issue of Libya's position in relation to the Lockerbie case.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 18 January,Official Report, column 497.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the German Government the refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to join the United States and United Kingdom indictment in respect of Lockerbie; and what grounds Volke Rath, the German public prosecutor, gave for the decision.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The Lockerbie bombing was a crime committed against a United States aircraft over Scotland. It is logical and right that the trial of those accused should take place in one of those two countries. I understand that Mr Rath has stated that he does not have sufficient evidence against the two accused to bring proceedings in Germany. In so stating, he was merely referring to the evidence available to him as part of the investigation by him as the state prosecutor at Frankfurt.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice was sought from Her Majesty's Government by the German Government on the reply that they should give to the letter to Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl, in German, from a German national, Elizabeth Mosey, mother of a Lockerbie victim, of 23 January; and what advice was given by Her Majesty's Government.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
None.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assurances he has given to the Council of Europe Assembly following the enquiries of 25 January from the hon. Member for Wentworth (Mr. Hardy), about the accuracy of British information in relation to Lockerbie and Libya.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I replied to the hon. Member for Wentworth (Mr. Hardy) on 6 February.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral statement of 1 February,Official Report, column 1058, on Lockerbie, whether he will place in the Library the 7W records of the exchanges between the Scottish Police and the Bundeskriminalamt and the Verfassungschutz on this issue of whether Scottish detectives could directly question Mr. Ghadanfar and Mr. Dalkomoni in relation to the destruction of Pan Am 103.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
There was no question of Scottish detectives directly questioning these persons. In common with many countries, Germany does not permit foreign investigators to conduct interviews on individuals in Germany, but permits interviews to be carried out at the request of foreign authorities by German police, prosecutors or judges as appropriate.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he took on reports emanating from the East German News Agency, broadcast by English News from Moscow, that the type of fuse used in the Lockerbie bombing was one of a small number made by a Swiss firm, which went to the East Germans.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I am not aware of the reports to which the hon. Gentleman refers. It would in any event be inappropriate to comment on details of investigative steps taken while criminal proceedings are pending.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his letter of 9 December 1993 to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, if he will discuss with the German Government the visit to Germany of the Iranian Intelligence Minister, Mr. Fallahian, and subsequent visits by Iranian Ministers at which the destruction of Pan Am 103 was discussed.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
We have regular discussions with the German Government on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. I am not aware that the destruction of Pan Am 103 has been the subject of discussion between the German authorities and Mr. Fallahian.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the basis for his assertion on 3 February at the Scottish Oils Club's annual dinner that a trial relating to Lockerbie would be prejudiced by a public inquiry.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
There has already been a public inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths—the fatal accident inquiry held from October 1990 to February 1991. A further public inquiry could hardly fail to encroach upon areas of evidence which can only properly be made public in the context of a criminal trial, where the accused are legally represented and are able to test the strength of the evidence. The public examination of such areas of evidence in any other public forum prior to the criminal trial would prejudice any future prosecution.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the statements by the Government of Iran in the possession of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the skies would rain blood on America, as a result of the shooting down of an Iranian Airbus by the USS Vincennes.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
My Department does not have in its possession any such formal statements by the Government of Iran. However, we are aware of an unattributed comment on similar lines broadcast on Tehran Radio in July 1988.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he was last in contact with the Government of Finland about the identity of a8W caller to the US embassy in Helsinki on 5 December 1988, warning that within two weeks a bomb would be carried on to an American airliner from Frankfurt, destination New York.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The credibility of this warning was examined by police officers involved in the Lockerbie investigation, who travelled to Helsinki for this purpose. It was discounted at an early stage of the investigation. We have not therefore pursued this further with the Finnish Government.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he is giving to the death of a British subject, Mr. Prazak, on 22 December 1992, on a Libyan airliner on an internal flight in the light of approaches from Mrs. Felicity Prazak, a British citizen.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I was very sad to hear of Mr. Prazak's death. In March 1994 permission was granted for settlement of insurance claims due to families of victims of the crash.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's communications with the solicitors of Pan Am, Windels, Marx, Davies and Ives, regarding aspects of the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
It would not be proper to comment on such communications.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral answer of 1 February, to the right hon. Member for Tweedale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Sir D. Steel),Official Report, column 1062, what further assessment he has made, following the letter of 3 February from Professor R. Black of the Law Faculty of Edinburgh university on whether legislation would be necessary to allow those suspected of the Lockerbie crime to be tried elsewhere than Scotland or the United States of America.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
I replied to Professor Black on 28 February. The question of whether legislation might be necessary to facilitate a trial of the two accused outside Scotland or the United States is in any event immaterial. They should appear before the appropriate United Kingdom or United States court, as confirmed by the United Nations Security Council.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what conclusions he has drawn from the case of Air Maltav. Granada Television in relation to Lockerbie.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Two Libyan nationals are accused of having placed, or having caused to be placed, the bomb which destroyed flight PA 103 on board an Air Malta flight from Luqa Airport on 21 December 1988. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I cannot comment on the detail of the evidence against the two accused while criminal proceedings are pending. The recent out-of-court settlement between Air Malta and Granada Television has no bearing on the prosecution case against the two accused. I understand that the story in relation to which Air Malta brought the action was based on allegations different in detail from those contained in the warrants for the arrest of the two Libyans accused.