§ Liz BlackmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if violations of the United Nations sanctions against UNITA are continuing; and if he will make a statement. [133608]
§ Mr. HainSadly, we have reason to believe that violations of the sanctions against UNITA are continuing. We are aware of reports that UNITA continue to fuel their war effort by selling diamonds, and that such private sales have taken place recently in Libreville, Gabon. We have heard that another private sale may be held in Libreville within the next month. We will be raising these reports
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Date Venue Event September 2–3 Evian Foreign Ministers (Informal) 3–5 Biarritz Agriculture Council (Informal) 4–8 Strasbourg EP Plenary 11–12 Paris Education (Informal) 15 Paris EU/Ukraine Summit 9–10 Versailles ECOFIN Council (Informal) 18–19 Brussels General Affairs Council 18 Brussels IGC Ministerial 25–26 Brussels Agriculture Council 26 (tbc) Brussels Culture Council 28 Brussels Internal Market/Consumer Council 28 Brussels Justice and Home Affairs Council 29 Brussels ECOFIN Council October 2 Paris EU/US Ministerial Meeting 2 Luxembourg Transport Council 2–7 Strasbourg EP Plenary 3 Luxembourg Telecommunications Council 9 Luxembourg IGC Ministerial 9–10 Luxembourg General Affairs Council 10 Luxembourg Environment Council 13–14 Biarritz European Council (Informal) 16–17 Luxembourg Labour and Social Affairs Council 17 Luxembourg ECOFIN JHA Council 19–21 Seoul Europe/Asia Summit 23 China EU/China Summit 23–24 Luxembourg Agriculture Council 23–27 Strasbourg EP Plenary 25 Luxembourg Education Council 30 (tbc) Paris EU-Russia Summit November 3 Brussels Social Affairs Council 3 Paris EU/Canada Ministerial 5 Brussels IGC Ministerial Conclave 7 Brussels ECOFIN Council 7 Brussels Environment Council 9 Brussels Education/Youth Council urgently with the Gabonese authorities, and urging them to do everything in their power to prevent this illicit trade. We will also be passing this information to the Chairman of the UN Angola Sanctions Committee.
We also have reason to believe that Victor Bout continues to supply arms to Angola in breach of the UN arms embargo. We call on all States to fulfil their international obligations to implement and enforce the mandatory sanctions imposed by the Security Council of the United Nations; there can be no excuse for any State to provide support for Bout in his continued flouting of UN sanctions.