§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on activities by the RAF over Iraq since the end of March. [84173]
§ The Prime MinisterRAF patrols of the no fly zones remain a vital humanitarian mission in support of UN Security Council Resolution 688 which condemned Saddam Hussein's repression of the Kurds in the North and Sh'ia Muslims in the South. Since the end of March, our aircraft have been shot at or otherwise threatened some 100 times. We have, therefore, been forced to take appropriate defensive measures against Iraqi facilities that pose a threat to coalition forces.