Iraq (Hansard, 23 January 2001)

§ 33. Fiona Mactaggart
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with opposition groups in Iraq about the effect of sanctions. [145067]

§ Mr. Hain
Ministers and officials keep in regular contact with representatives of the Iraqi opposition on all aspects of our Iraq policy. The Iraqi National Congress, perhaps the most significant opposition grouping, makes clear that it holds Saddam Hussein directly responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people, and wishes to ensure that he can never again attack his own people or his neighbours with weapons of mass destruction.

§ 35. Mr. Brake
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Iraq. [145069]

§ Mr. Hain
Ten years after the outbreak of the Gulf war, we remember the allied service-men who lost their lives in the successful operation to expel Iraq from Kuwait. Kuwait is now prospering free from Iraqi tyranny. However, we should not forget the Kuwaitis missing since the occupation. I urge Iraq to co-operate with the Tripartite Commission, which is tracing the Kuwaiti missing.
Since the Gulf war, our policy has contained the threat posed by the Iraqi regime. In the last 10 years, Iraq has not used chemical weapons against the Kurds or Iran or invaded its neighbours. Nor has it fired Scud missiles at Israel or Saudi Arabia. Before sanctions, Iraq did all of these. That is why Britain will continue to support sanctions and the no-fly zones until Iraq no longer represents a threat. This anniversary should be a reminder to us all of why it is necessary to contain the Iraqi threat now as it was 10 years ago.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 offers Iraq a way out of sanctions. It allows for the suspension of sanctions in return for Iraqi co-operation with UN weapons inspectors. Britain wants to see sanctions suspended. Critics of sanctions should unite with us in calling on the regime to take up this offer rather than playing into Saddam's hands by supporting his defiance of the UN and international law and prolonging sanctions. Sanctions could be suspended in a matter of months if UN weapons inspectors are allowed into Iraq to control Saddam's biological, chemical and nuclear weapons capabilities, which are threatening the region.