§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have a new agreement with the United States and Turkey (as reported in the International Herald Tribune, 3 March) on "technical rules of engagement in the north of Iraq which will give pilots even greater flexibility to decide when to fire their weapons". [HL1419]
§ Lord HoyleThe conduct of military operations is circumscribed by the provisions of international and national law. Rules of engagement (RoE) define the degree and manner in which force may be applied and are designed to ensure that such application of force is carefully controlled. My noble friend will understand why, in order to avoid providing Iraq with information that might make it easier to harm our service personnel, I am not prepared to divulge further details.
The RoE for coalition aircraft patrolling the northern and southern no-fly zones over Iraq have been tailored to reflect the escalation by Saddam Hussein in his systematic attacks and threats to coalition aircraft. They allow coalition pilots to defend themselves properly 115WA against Saddam's attacks by allowing them to target not just anti-aircraft batteries and missile sites but also other elements of the Iraqi integrated air defence system that directly control the attacks on our aircraft.