§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent UN Security Council discussions on Iraq. [90445]
§ Mr. HoonDiscussions are continuing within the UN Security Council on the various draft resolutions on Iraq. The UK resolution seeks to translate the work of the three UN assessment panels on disarmament, humanitarian and Kuwaiti issues into action. It is now co-sponsored by the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Slovenia, Gambia and Bahrain. We do not consider that the Russian and French draft resolutions offer a realistic basis for agreement in the Council. We are working in the Council to rebuild 259W consensus on Iraq and hope that the remaining Council members will also move quickly to endorse our comprehensive approach.