Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with which countries in the Middle East the UK has a defence co-operation agreement. [168322]

Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Security Strategy: The UK has no legally binding defence co-operation agreements with countries in the middle east. (Normally ‘agreements’ are legally binding documents, which establish rights and obligations under international law. Such agreements must be laid before Parliament and ratified before they enter into force.)

The UK does have a number of non-legally binding arrangements with middle eastern countries, including Defence Co-operation Accords with Bahrain, Qatar and UAE and memoranda of understanding concerning defence co-operation with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Lebanon. Bi-lateral and multi-lateral arrangements, unlike agreements, are not generally published into the public domain because their content is often unsuitable for release or they carry a security classification. Furthermore, details of individual MOUs are not normally released into the public domain without the consent of participating countries.

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