Iraq (Hansard, 5 July 2000)

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what amounts of Iraq's supplies of(a) botulinum, (b) anthrax, (c) aflatoxin, (d) gas gangrene and (e) ricin remain unaccounted for; and if he will make a statement. [128179]

§ Mr. Hain
Iraq took four years to admit it had a biological weapons (BW) programme. Even after a further three and a half years work, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) could not compile a comprehensive technical, industrial and scientific assessment of Iraq's BW programme. This was because of Iraq's failure to provide a credible full, final and complete disclosure of its programme, as required by the United Nations, or to co-operate with UNSCOM in clarifying its declarations. There have been no UN weapons inspections in Iraq since December 1998, hence the importance we attach to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) gaining access at the earliest opportunity.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what amount of Iraq's supplies of(a) tabun, (b) sarin, (c) mustard gas and (d) VX gas remain unaccounted for; and if he will make a statement. [128180]

§ Mr. Hain
Although the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was able to destroy, remove or render harmless large quantities of chemical weapons (CW), their components, precursors and major production equipment, there remain significant gaps in their understanding of Iraq's CW programme. Even accepting the figures for CW agents and precursors unilaterally destroyed by Iraq in contravention of United Nations Security Council resolution 687, there are discrepancies in Iraq's declarations on the number of weapons filled with chemical agents and the number used during the Iran/Iraq war or lost after the Gulf War. Questions remain on the production and weaponisation of VX, CW production equipment and CW precursors. There have been no UN weapons inspections in Iraq since December 1998, hence the importance we attach to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) gaining access at the earliest opportunity.