§ Baroness Rawlingsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they and the United Nations Security Council intend to maintain the oil export ban against Iraq until they are satisfied that Iraq has disarmed in accordance with United Nations resolutions; and what guarantees they will seek that oil revenues are not used for the purposes of re-arming. [HL2640]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanOur position remains that sanctions cannot be lifted until Iraq has complied with its obligations under Security Council resolutions, including its disarmament obligations. At present, under the UN oil-for-food programme, Iraq is allowed to export 5.2 billion dollars worth of oil every six months to purchase humanitarian supplies. The UN sanctions committee controls the revenue from those oil sales via an escrow account. We remain determined to enforce the sanctions regime and to limit as far as possible Iraq's ability to sell oil illegally to fund military procurement. British naval assets are deployed to the multinational Maritime Interdiction Force to prevent illegal oil trade through the Gulf. And our draft Security 163WA Council resolution calls for measures to ensure that any illegal trade in oil comes under the oil-for-food programme, so that the revenue can be controlled and used for humanitarian purposes.