Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Wednesday, 11 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 October 2006. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Friday, 20 October 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Lebanon

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) the UN, (b) the Government of Lebanon, (c) the Government of Israel and (d) Hezbollah on the subject of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon as a result of the recent conflict, with particular reference to cluster munitions which failed to explode; and what monitoring has been undertaken of the situation.

Answer: We have recently held official level discussions through our embassies in Beirut and Tel Aviv, about unexploded ordnance with the Governments of Lebanon and Israel. We called on the Government of Israel to make a public statement about its use of cluster munitions in the recent conflict with Lebanon. We have not held any discussions with Hezbollah on the issue. We plan to discuss the issue of cluster munitions with the UN shortly.We continue to be concerned about levels of unexploded ordnance and cluster munitions in south Lebanon. In response to the recent crisis in Lebanon the Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £205,000 to the British non-governmental organisation, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for clearance of unexploded ordnance and have a commitment to provide a sum of £1 million to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for similar tasking.

Secondary information