§ 20. Kevin BrennanTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of British forces in international peacekeeping in the middle east region. [76713]
§ Mr. HoonThe Strategic Defence Review concluded that our national interests are directly affected by events in the middle east. The deployment of United Kingdom armed forced to Oman for exercise Saif Sareea 11 graphically illustrated our commitment to stability in the region.
Royal Air Force aircraft continue to patrol the no fly zones over Iraq in support of UN SCR 688, which demanded that Saddam Hussein end the repression of his own people. We also contribute a small contingent of British armed forces personnel to the UN Iraq Kuwait Observer Mission established under UN SCR 687 to monitor the defined border and demilitarised zone between Iraq and Kuwait.