§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What measures they have taken, either through the United Nations Security Council or otherwise, to persuade the authorities in the United Arab Emirates to withdraw permission to operate flights from Sharjah and elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates of aircraft owned by companies which are alleged, in the reports of the United Nations Expert Panel on Sierra Leone and the Monitoring Mechanism on Angola Sanctions, to be engaged in deliveries of illicit arms. [HL23]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)The Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Peter Hain, raised this issue with the UAE Authorities during his visit to the UAE in October 2000. He subsequently wrote to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, to register concern that Victor Butt, named by the UN Expert Panel on Sierra Leone and the Monitoring Mechanism Report on Angola for his involvement in illegal supplies to Liberia and Sierra Leone in breach of UN Sanctions, 55WA is using the UAE as a base for his Africa sanctions busting operations. Our Ambassador to the UAE also raised these concerns in January 2001 with His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah. The Chairman of the UN Angola Sanctions Committee has also raised the issue with the UAE Ambassador in New York on several occasions.