In the light of repeated statements by senior United States politicians and officials, including President Bush,suggesting that countries other than Afghanistan may become targets for the United States, will the Prime Minister confirm that he will not support the extension of military action to countries such as Iraq, Sudan, Somalia or Yemen?

First of all, it might be helpful to quote what President Bush actually said. He said: "Afghanistan is still just the beginning. If anybody harbours a terrorist, they're a terrorist . . . If they house terrorists, they're terrorists . . . I can't make it any more clearly to . . . nations around the world. If they develop weapons of mass destruction that will be used to terrorise nations, they will be held accountable. And as for Mr. Saddam Hussein, he needs to let inspectors back in his country, to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction."

I totally agree with those sentiments. I have always said that this operation will have two phases. The first is in Afghanistan and our military action is focused there. The second is to take in a deliberative and considered way what action we can against international terrorism in all its forms. That has been the position from the beginning. It is the position of myself, the American Administration and everybody else in the international coalition, and that remains the case.

Our Government played a very important part in setting up the global AIDS and health fund. Is the Prime Minister aware that so far only £1.5 billion has been pledged to that fund, compared with the £7 billion to £10 billion that Kofi Annan said was needed annually; and that some poor countries, such as Uganda, have actually made bigger contributions, relative to their wealth, than many richer countries? Will the Prime Minister consider, first, increasing our contribution; secondly, doing what he can to encourage other western Governments to contribute more; and, finally, encouraging major British companies to contribute in the same way that some big American companies have done?

We certainly want to encourage greater private sector influence and commitment; indeed, I have held meetings with private sector companies on this issue. We are committed--as Britain--to about $200 million for that global health fund. The overall fund is $1.8 billion. Obviously, it is true that at the moment we have not spent all that, but that is probably for good reasons as well as bad--in part to ensure that any money we spend actually goes to the people who need it and that it is properly used. I can assure my hon. Friend that our commitment is absolute; we have shown that, by having--in a sense--led the argument over the past few years. If we can do more, we will

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