HC Deb 05 February 2002 vol 379 cc805-6W
Vernon Coaker

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the supplementary report of the monitoring mechanism on Sanctions against UNITA appointed, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1295 (2001), paragraph 3, in relation to the situation in Angola. [31193]

Mr. MacShane

We welcome the supplementary report of the monitoring mechanism. We believe the report accurately highlights the continuing destabilising impact of UNITA in Angola. It describes the problem of the ongoing flow of arms to UNITA, albeit at a reduced level and contains detailed evidence of the role of sanctions buster, Victor Bout, in supplying arms to UNITA.

We are working in the UN Angola Sanctions Committee to ensure that all breaches of sanctions detailed in the report are appropriately followed up. We believe the monitoring mechanism has an important role to play in ensuring the targeted sanctions against UNITA are fully implemented and enforced and fully support Security Council resolution 1374 (2001) of 19 October 2001, extending the mechanism's mandate for a further six months.