§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answers by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 9 December 1997 (WA 17–19), whether it is now being proposed by the United States to its NATO allies that their area of operations be extended to the Middle East and to dealing there with weapons of mass destruction as "the most overriding security interest of our time" (Mrs. Albright, quoted in the International Herald Tribune, 17 December 1997); and whether this "most overriding security" interest includes monitoring the quantities, and checking the uses Israel may make of its nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the assistance, technical or financial, it may have received towards their development and employment. [HL1956]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanI refer my noble friend to the answer I gave on 12 January (Official Report, WA 124). Her Majesty's Government believe that international co-operation against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is extremely important and should be strengthened wherever possible.