§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government have taken to secure reparations from Iraq for Kuwait under United Nations Resolution 687. [30979]
§ Mr. FatchettThe Government of Kuwait have made their own claims for reparations through the UN Compensation Commission in Geneva.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken in the last year in pressing for Saddam Hussein to be indicted as a war criminal. [30980]
§ Mr. FatchettWe have on several occasions made clear our support for the INDICT campaign which calls for Saddam Hussein to be brought to account in an appropriate court.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of(a) the volume of oil sold by Iraq since the introduction of UN sanctions, (b) the net price paid to Iraq and (c) the comparative free market price for oil. [30762]
§ Mr. Fatchett[holding answer 23 February 1998]: On 19 February, the UN estimated that, under UNSCR 986, 119.5 million barrels of oil had been sold, under UNSCR 111, 126.9 million barrels and under UNSCR 143, 38.9 million barrels.
The UN estimates the revenue from these sales at US$2.15 billion, US$2.125 billion and US$0.48 billion respectively.
Prices implied by these revenue figures are US$17.99, US$16.75 and US$12.34 respectively. The fall in prices is in line with the fall in oil prices generally over the period in question.
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§ Mr. DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the work the Government have commissioned on opinion research or focus groups concerning people's views on Iraq; what were the terms of reference; to whom each contract was awarded; what was the cost of each contract; and if he will publish in full the transcripts and conclusions of each piece of research. [30945]
§ Mr. Fatchett[holding answer 23 February 1998]: We have not commissioned any survey concerning views on Iraq. We have, however, taken careful note of the results of opinion polls published in the UK press.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reasons other members of the(a) United Nations Security Council and (b) European Union Council of Ministers, who oppose a military attack on Iraq, have given to Her Majesty's Government for their opposition to such action. [30982]
§ Mr. FatchettThe agreement reached by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was the culmination of intensive diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis with Iraq. But as the Secretary General himself stated at his press conference in Baghdad, progress was achieved only because diplomatic efforts were backed up by the credible threat of military force.
The vast majority of EU Member States and most Security Council members have said publicly that they would not rule out the use of force against Iraq if efforts to secure a diplomatic solution failed.