Sir, - Your correspondent in Brussels, Patrick Smyth, reports (May 26th) "Irish effort to strengthen new code on arms exports fails".
This new EU code of conduct on the arms trade urges member states "to exercise particular caution" in granting licences for exports to countries where serious human rights violations have been established by UN bodies. Mr Andrews rightly argues that such exports should be banned altogether. The code also prohibits sales to countries "where there is a clear risk that the proposed export may be used for internal repression".
In this context, and given that, according to a US State Department report of January 30th, serious human rights abuses continue in Algeria and security forces routinely torture prisoners, should the sale of Irish-made Motorola communications equipment to the Algerian security forces, which you reported on February 13th, not also be banned? - Yours, etc., C. Gaidoni,
Dundrum, Dublin 16.