Madam Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Mr Ebrahim Ebrahim, recently made a very welcome statement on the situation in Burma, when he said that the government of South Africa was deeply saddened and regretted the decision of the Myanmar authorities to convict Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of subversion.
It appears that this government has made a foreign policy about-turn, and for once we are supporting the democrats and not the dictators. But it was not always so, and in the light of this, would the Minister tell this House whether the National Conventional Arms Control Committee has ever authorised or refused any permit in relation to conventional arms transfers to the military regime in Burma?