British Hostages In Abu Dhabi

EDM number 1634 in 1992-93, proposed by Keith Vaz on 17/03/1993.

That this House is astonished at the attitude of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office towards the plight of the six British citizens who have been detained for over 18 months by order of Sheikh Zayed and the Government of Abu Dhabi without any formal charge of any crime; although welcoming the comments by the Foreign Secretary in a letter of 17th March to the honourable Member for Leicester East that he understands the distress and worry which the detainees' prolonged detention is causing their families, believes that greater efforts should be taken on behalf of these British citizens; notes the fact that since the detentions were first ordered one of the detainees has died in Abu Dhabi; holds that it is inadequate that Her Majesty's Government considers it sufficient that some day in the future the detainees may be charged with a crime; notes the fact that the detainees possess information that is crucial to the victims of BCCI as well as the liquidators; believes that it is incumbent upon Her Majesty's Government to demand that these British citizens be either charged and offered a fair and just trial, or be released immediately; contrasts the attitude of Her Majesty's Government to the detainees with other British citizens detained abroad; and calls on the Foreign Secretary to meet with interested honourable Members immediately to discuss this important matter.

This motion has been signed by a total of 45 MPs.