HL Deb 24 June 1998 vol 591 cc23-4WA
Baroness Hilton of Eggardon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether an export licence for the supply of bomb disposal equipment to the Ministry of the Interior, Sarajevo Canton, Bosnia, has been approved. [HL2417]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)

The Government recently approved the export of a complete disruptor set and a box of 100 cartridges to the Ministry of the Interior, Sarajevo Canton, in Bosnia to enable local police bomb disposal teams to defuse bombs placed in the city by criminal and terrorist elements. Given the threat which these improvised explosive devices pose to civilians who are trying to rebuild normal, unthreatened lives in the city, we were glad to be able to approve this export as an exception to our interpretation of the EU arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia. This decision does not affect the Government's continued support of the EU common position on arms exports to the former Yugoslavia.