§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made in the normalisation of diplomatic relations with Sudan. [HL162]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWhen the Foreign Secretary ordered the withdrawal of British staff from our Embassy in Khartoum on 27 August 1998, he said it was a temporary withdrawal and he hoped that the necessary conditions for the return of staff would be re-established before too long. That remains our hope.
We are in regular contact with the Sudanese Government through their Embassy in London. British staff from our Embassy in Khartoum, who are currently based in Nairobi, have also made a number of visits to Sudan.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made in the attainment of a general cease-fire throughout southern Sudan. [HL164]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Minister of State, Mr. Fatchett, visited Nairobi and Khartoum in July of this year and had talks with the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement. During his visit both sides announced a three-month cease-fire in Bahr al Ghazal. This cease-fire has since been extended for a further three months until mid-January 1999.
103WAWe continue to press for a further extension to both the timescale and the geographical coverage of the cease-fire.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of the reports on 10 March (HC Deb, col. 462) that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was unable to validate reports that Sudan had access to chemical weapons capabilities and on 19 March (H.L. Deb., cols. 818–820) that the Ministry of Defence and the United Nations Special Commission had also found no evidence of Iraqi transfers of weapons of mass destruction or of such technology to the Sudan, nor of chemical weapons facilities or production in Sudan, whether they now have independent evidence that this position has changed in the past seven months. [HL165]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanHer Majesty's Government are concerned at allegations of the use/manufacture of chemical weapons by the Government of Sudan. We have raised these concerns with the Sudanese authorities on a number of occasions. We continue to encourage Sudan to answer these allegations by becoming a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the acquisition, development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It is supported by a verification regime consisting of data declarations and on-site inspections.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are able independently to verify claims of genocide in Bahr al Ghazal in Southern Sudan as reported by the Daily Telegraph on 26 May 1998. [HL166]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanHer Majesty's Government were gravely concerned at the reports of killings in northern Bahr al Ghazal. The situation was very complicated and the picture unclear, making it difficult to verify the facts. For example, we received reports which, while not absolving the Government of Sudan from blame, suggested that these killings should be seen in the context of a long history of tribal conflicts. It would appear from the information available to us that no one side was entirely to blame.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any evidence that any of the three suspects in the attempted assassination of President Mubarak of Egypt in June 1995, whose extradition from Sudan was called for in Security Council Resolution 1044, is at present in Sudan. [HL163]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe are not aware of the whereabouts of the three suspects.