§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 26 November 1996,Official Report, column 150, if he will make a statement on his latest discussions with the United States Government on Libyan sanctions; and if he will make a statement on changes in his Department's policy on sanctions towards Libya in each of the last four years. [21551]
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorUK and US Government officials discussed UN sanctions against Libya in the weeks preceding the review of sanctions on 14 March. Both Governments remain committed to the rigorous implementation of the sanctions until Libya has complied fully with UN Security Council resolutions 731 and 748. It remains Her Majesty's Government's policy that, since the break in relations with Libya in 1984, we neither encourage nor discourage unembargoed trade with Libya. We support UK exporters to the extent that our limited resources in Tripoli allow.
Libya's continued failure to surrender the two Lockerbie accused, and to comply with the other requirements of the UN Security Council, caused the adoption of resolution 883 which imposed further sanctions effective from 1 December 1993; specifically, a partial assets freeze, a ban on the supply of certain oil-related equipment, and a tightening of sanctions imposed by SCR 748.
UK sanctions against Libya are reviewed every four months. There has been no change in Her Majesty's Government's policy on Libya sanctions since they were imposed, because the reasons for imposing them remain valid.