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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when officials in his Department were first informed of the attempted coup plot in Equatorial Guinea; [198221] (2) what contingency plans were drawn up by his Department (a) unilaterally and (b) in conjunction with other countries for the evacuation of British nationals and others from Equatorial Guinea immediately prior to the attempted coup earlier this year; [198218] (3) which United Kingdom forces were within (a) 500 miles and (b) 1,000 miles of Equatorial Guinea (i) before and (ii) during the attempted coup earlier this year. [198220] Mr. Ingram: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary about when the Government became aware of the alleged coup in Equatorial Guinea. In this case no contingency planning was considered necessary because the majority of Entitled Personnel were covered by commercial evacuations plans, and the remainder would have been evacuated by the French under the updated civil contingency plan. Throughout the period there were no operational UK forces in the Gulf of Guinea area other than British Military Training Teams in Ghana and Nigeria, and Defence Advisers/Attaches in Ghana, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

426 c1820W;426 c1824W; 198221;198218;198220

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Disclosure of information Armed forces British nationality Deployment Emergencies Planning Overseas residence Ministry of Defence Military coups Equatorial Guinea

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk