§ Mr. HowardTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when(a) telegram 277 regarding Sierra Leone, (b) his Department's daily bulletins regarding the scope of the arms embargo in Sierra Leone and (c) the text of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference communiqué were first brought to his attention. [75808]
§ Mr. Robin Cook[holding answer 9 March 1999]: Telegram 277 contains guidance for media inquiries on UN Resolution 1132. This and FCO Daily Bulletins are not operational papers and would not have been drawn to my attention at the time they issued. I would not have seen these papers until some time after the arrival of the letter from S. J. Berwin and Co. dated 24 April 1998. In October 1997, I attended the CHOGM which produced the Communiqué in question.