HL Deb 23 June 1999 vol 602 cc90-1WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is in accordance with the conclusions of the G8 that bombing of Yugoslavia should be continued after the Ahtisaari-Chernomyrdin terms had been accepted by the Yugoslav authorities. [HL2816]

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

The Ahtisaari-Chernomyrdin agreement, which is included in the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) of 10 June, specified that suspension of military activity would occurinter alia after the beginning of verifiable withdrawals of FRY and Serbian forces from Kosovo. This agreement was accepted by the government of the FRY and incorporated in UNSCR 1244 as prepared by G8 Foreign Ministers.

Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the methodology used at NATO's combined air operation in Vicenza to determine the use of unconventional weapons and to select non-military targets; whether the full observance of the Geneva Conventions was required; if not, why not; and what professional advice did the Combined Air Operations Centre have concerning the probable health and environmental effects of these weapons and of the emissions from these targets. [HL2949]

Lord Burlison

NATO and its component states comply with customary and conventional international law and conduct their operations accordingly. Those principles require,inter alia, injury to civilians to be minimised and care to be taken to avoid damage to the environment.

Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps NATO is taking to establish precisely the results of:

  1. (a) the use of depleted uranium (including airborne particles), cluster bombs and other unconventional weapons;
  2. (b) targeting chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical works;
  3. (c) targeting the civil water supply; and
    4. WA 91
  4. (d) the (classified) weapons that disrupted the civil electricity supply of Belgrade and other towns. [HL2948]

Lord Burlison

The military effectiveness of the air campaign will be assessed by NATO and the participant nations in the normal way.