asked Her Majesty's Government:How many United Nations personnel are stationed in Iraq under the provisions of paragraph 11 of Security Council Resolution 986 of 14th April 1995; and whether they are each allocated to specific areas; and how many there are in the areas controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan respectively, and in the area formerly occupied by the marsh Arabs of the south.

One hundred and fifty-one United Nations international observers are shortly to be stationed in central and southern Iraq under the provisions of paragraph 11 of Security Council Resolution 986 of 14th April 1995. An additional 20 international observers will be deployed in the three northern governorates of Dihouk, Arbil, and Suleimaniyeh.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their assessment of the value of oil products being exported to Turkey by Iraq in road tankers, and whether this trade will be counted towards the total of $1 billion mentioned in paragraph I of Security Council Resolution 986 of 14th April 1995.

We believe that up to 1,000 lorries a day are involved in cross-border trade between Turkey and Iraq. The Turkish authorities are reported to allow each lorry to import into Turkey between 4-5 tonnes of oil. We do not know how many lorries carry this maximum, nor the total value of such imports. Any such imports would not come within the scope of SCR 986, which requires that exports of petroleum and petroleum products must go either via Mina Al Bakr or via the Kirkuk-Yirmatalik pipeline.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the statement issued in the course of the NATO December meeting that NATO had "no intention, no plan and no reason" to deploy nuclear weapons in new member states is a commitment never to do so, and whether this statement differs in quality from the verbal statements that NATO would not be expanded eastwards, which were made in the context of the Soviet Union's agreement to the unification of Germany and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

The North Atlantic communiqué of 10th December made clear that enlarging the Alliance will not require a change in NATO's current nuclear posture—and that we do not foresee any future need to do so. As I made clear to the noble Lord in an Answer on 20th November, no British Minister ever made any formal undertaking to the Soviet Union that NATO would not expand eastwards.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the expansion of NATO eastward will require revision of the North Atlantic Treaty, and, if so, how.

It is not anticipated that any revision will be needed to the North Atlantic Treaty.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What nuclear guarantees for countries of eastern Europe would be proposed in the event of NATO expansion, and whether they will undertake to submit any such proposals to parliamentary decision.

The Alliance stated in its 1995 Enlargement Study that the coverage provided by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, including its nuclear component, will apply to new members. Her Majesty's Government will expect Parliament to want to follow closely progress on NATO's enlargement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Audit Commission has not responded to a request from the Penal Lexicon dated 21st November 1996 to be allowed to publish its report

I understand that the Audit Commission has not received any such request from the Penal Lexicon. It does, however, place summaries of its reports, including Misspent Youth, on its own web site.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in accordance with their policy on open government, they will ensure that all government departments follow the same approach in dealing with requests by the owners of web sites to be allowed to publish material produced by the Government; and what is their policy on this matter.

The Government continue fully to endorse the principles of open government and the dissemination of government information. Where Crown copyright material is being reproduced, it is subject to a copyright licence being issued. This licensing of Crown copyright is administered by the Copyright Unit of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which considers each application on its merits, taking into account open government principles and any views expressed by the originating department. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced as part of a Written Answer in another place on 6th November 1996 that the Office of Public Service would be co-ordinating a review of the management of Crown copyright and that the results of this review would be published as a Green Paper.