The selling of spare parts for Moroccan artillery deployed in the disputed area of the western Sahara has been attacked by aid workers and backbench Labour MPs. Foreign secretary Robin Cook said the government had at first refused to give the unnamed company an export license, but had granted it on appeal when the United Nations said its monitors would "supervise" the weapons.

Labour MP Tess Kingham said that minister "have decided that commercial interests are more important than ethical considerations."