§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to review current and future stocks of munitions to ensure that they do not have the capacity to act as anti-personnel mines; and if he will make a statement. [94642]
§ Mr. SpellarAll UK weapons systems and munitions have been checked for compliance with the provisions of the Ottawa Convention. There are no weapons or munitions in the UK inventory which fall under the Ottawa definition of an anti-personnel mine. The UK is fully committed to a complete global ban on anti-personnel mines and will never again use these weapons.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mines have been retained for training purposes; and which anti-personnel types have been retained. [94668]
§ Mr. SpellarThe UK is permitted to retain the minimum necessary amount of anti-personnel mines for training and testing in de-mining techniques, as permitted under Article 3 of the Ottawa Convention. As of 1 August 1999, these comprised 2088 Ranger mines, 1056 C3 Elsie420W mines, and 434 HB 876 sub-munitions to the JP233 weapon system. As of 1 August 1999, the UK also held 859 anti-personnel mines of foreign manufacture for the development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction techniques, as provided for in Article 3 of the Convention.