§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what(a) financial and (b) other assistance was 522W given by the UK Government between 1980 and 1990 for the construction of the Falluja 2 chemical plant in Iraq; and if she will make a statement. [102434]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 12 March 2003]In 1985 the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) provided export credit insurance in support of a £15 million contract by UHDE Ltd., a UK subsidiary of a West German company, for the design supply and supervision of the erection and commissioning of a Chlorine-Alkali-Electrolysis plant at Falluja, Iraq.
This contract was fully investigated in the 1996 report on the inquiry into the export of defence equipment and dual-use goods to Iraq and related prosecutions by the then Sir Richard Scott (now Lord Scott of Foscote) which concluded that "a unilateral ban by the UK on the export of such plant or chemicals to Iraq would have achieved nothing useful".