§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his statement on 23 October in the A1 Sharq A1 Aursat newspaper, what evidence he has that the Al Shifa pharmaceutical factory was manufacturing offensive weapons or materials. [61463]
§ Mr. George RobertsonWe have the assurance of the United States Government that their decision to resort to military action was based on compelling evidence that the Al Shifa factory was connected with chemical weapons development or manufacture. It would be inappropriate to discuss the details of the intelligence on which this was based, which are withheld in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.