§ Mr. SavidgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the nuclear weapons capability of(a) Iraq and (b) Israel. [130679]
§ Mr. HoonWe remain concerned about the potential for Iraq to resume its covert programme to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Hence the importance we attach to re-establishing weapons inspections in Iraq under the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Israel is a non-party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). We consistently call on Israel to join the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state, to place all its nuclear facilities under international Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, to ratify the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and to engage in negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty.