§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What criteria they apply in deciding whether to support governments in exile, either politically or financially; and why they have given ―130,000 to former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and nothing to former President Pascal Lissouba of Congo Brazzaville.
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Deanwhere democratic governments have been overthrown by violence we have often worked with them in exile as part of our global support for democracy. Tejan Kabbah is not the "former" President of Sierra Leone; he remains the legitimate leader of that country, whereas the outbreak of civil war in June 1997 in Congo (Brazzaville) resulted in the cancellation of the presidential election and the subsequent expiry of President Lissouba's mandate in August 1997. Moreover, although the UK was a principal donor to Sierra Leone before the coup—and hopes to be again after the restoration of constitutional order there—we have not had a bilateral aid relationship with the Republic of the Congo for many years.