---

Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings officials from the Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit have held with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs since 1 January, indicating the date and location of each meeting and the names of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials at each meeting. [93940] Mr. Spellar: In the period 1 January 1999 to 15 October 1999, officials from the MOD's Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit met US Department of Veterans Affairs officials on the dates and at the locations shown in the table: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Location 21 January Washington DC 26 February Washington DC 2-4 March Washington DC 14 May Washington DC 4-8 and 14 October Washington DC and Baltimore MD _________________________________________________________________________________________________. I am withholding the names of the US Department of Veterans Affairs officials who attended the meetings above in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (which relates to international relations) and Exemption 12 (which relates to privacy of an individual). In addition to the above, a member of the Gulf Veterans Illnesses Unit (GVIU) based in Washington DC maintains continuous dialogue with United States Department of Veterans Affairs colleagues.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

93940; 336 c696-7W;336 c697W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Iraq-Kuwait conflict Meetings USA Gulf Veterans Illnesses Unit Veterans