§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's latest estimate is of those states that are(a) known and (b) suspected of pursuing (i) nuclear, (ii) chemical and (iii) biological weapons programmes; and if he will list them. [133721]
§ Mr. HoonUnder the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, China and Russia are legally entitled to possess nuclear weapons. Additionally, India and Pakistan have tested nuclear devices. We continue to encourage Israel to resolve international concerns about its nuclear status by acceding to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state.
There are five states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention that have declared possession of chemical weapons. They are currently in the process of destroying them in accordance with their obligations under the Convention.
The Government have made clear in recent months that we continue to believe that Iraq had produced and had active programmes for production of WMD. We are also aware of, and very concerned by, persistent reports that Iran, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Libya and Syria are pursuing programmes to develop WMD and the means for their delivery.