Lethal Defence Equipment

Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons
dated 18 July 1996 for the Appendices to the Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions laid before The House on 15 February 1996*

Volume One
Section D Arms and Defence-Related Exports to Iraq
Chapter 2 Applications of The Guidelines in the period
December 1984 to August 1988

D2.360 Lethal defence equipment was barred from export to Iraq or Iran under guideline (i) of the Guidelines. The embargo had been a point of Government policy since the outbreak of the Iran- Iraq war. The bar was, or soon became after the outbreak of war, well known to weapons and munitions manufacturers and the records of AWP applications and ELAs submitted for consideration by the MODWG and the IDC disclose practically no applications relating to weapons or to munitions. There are one or two exceptions which serve to underline the general rule. An application was made for a licence to export a pair of Browning 9mm pistols for presentation to Saddam Hussein’s son. The pistols were clearly “lethal” and the IDC recommended refusal. *500 The Minister (DP) was unenthusiastic about the application, but said that he would not object to the export if the FCO wished to agree. The FCO Minister, Mr Mellor, did object. So the licence was refused. *501 At the IDC meeting on 20 March 1987, ELAs for the export to Iraq of delay fuses and remote controlled detonators for use by the Iraqi Armed Forces were recommended for refusal on the ground of lethality. *502

D2.361 There were, however, from an early stage grounds for the belief that lethal equipment of various types was finding its way from the United Kingdom to Iraq via diversionary countries. In an MOD letter dated 30 March 1984 to the FCO/MED regarding allegations of British supplies to Iraq of conventional munitions, the MOD said that “the Defence Sales Organisation have conducted an extensive search of their records back to the mid-1970s and have been able to confirm that no such items (or any other lethal equipment, unless we count air rifles supplied around 1976) have been supplied in that period.” *503 But the letter went on to say: “It has also been possible to identify sales of British ordnance to Iraq through third parties”, and gave a number of examples. The use of third party diversionary countries by means of which Iraq was able to obtain supplies of British lethal equipment and ammunition that would not have been licensed for direct export to Iraq is an important topic which I will deal with later. *504 It suffices for the moment to say that during the Iran-Iraq war lethal equipment and ammunition was not licensed for export to Iraq.

Endnotes
*500 - see FCO/2.6.289 and FCO/2.6.286 and MOD/15.1.279 and MOD/15.1.313 at paragraph 3(i)

* The Full report is available from The Stationery Office Ltd., PO Box 276, London, SW8 5DT.