(7) what assessment his Department has made of the regional implications of the Crisis in Sierra Leone.

Several West African states, including Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, are working together to find a peaceful settlement to the current Crisis in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Tony Lloyd: We have consistently worked for a peaceful settlement of the Crisis in Sierra Leone.

I am in no doubt that all the diplomatic service officials who have been before us are men and women of integrity, and that, if all the officials concerned had been clear that the arms embargo applied to all the parties to the Sierra Leone Crisis, including the Government of President Kabbah in exile in Guinea, the Foreign Office would not have become involved in Sandline International's activities.

From Kosovo and the current debate on European defence to the success of Smart procurement and the Crisis in Sierra Leone, experience is vindicating the validity of the SDR's conclusions.

Have you received a request from the Government to make a statement on the worsening Crisis in Sierra Leone?

Mr. Worthington: We need to consider the full dimensions of the Sierra Leone Crisis.

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role the Commonwealth has played in finding a peaceful solution to the latest Crisis in Sierra Leone.

It must be stressed that maintaining shipbuilding capacity is also vital to our modern defence strategy, as was shown most recently in the Government's response to the Crisis in Sierra Leone.

Following the report on Srebrenica and the current Crisis in Sierra Leone, should the mandate of UNAMSIL peace keeping be changed to peace enforcement?

The Government handled the recent Crisis in Sierra Leone with a great deal of courage and fortitude.

In general, the Government and the Prime Minister have acquitted themselves with enormous credit on the Sierra Leone Crisis, in which British troops have been involved.

In the current Crisis in Sierra Leone, more than 1,600 people have lost their lives, and every week 200 to 300 people are dying and 400 to 500 people are becoming infected.

The UK is leading the international response to the Crisis in Sierra Leone by diagnosing and isolating Ebola cases more quickly, trebling the number of treatment beds, supporting burial teams, and assisting in the research for a vaccine.