Belgian Minister Quits in Arms Row

Belgium's coalition government was shaken yesterday when a minister resigned in a row over arms exports and "ethical" foreign policy.

Magda Aelvoet, a Green member of Guy Verhofstadt's coalition, said she was stepping down after confirmation that a shipment of weapons would go to Nepal, where the western-backed government is facing a Maoist rebellion.

The foreign minister, Louis Michel, called the decision to sell arms to Nepal"eminently ethical", despite Germany refusing to follow suit. "Nepal is a young and fragile democracy," he said. "We always have the choice not to help but then we give more opportunities to the terrorist side."

The row centres on the sale of 5,500 machine guns from the FN arms factory. But it has also become entangled with regional rivalries, with Flemish parties objecting to a sale that will benefit an industry based in French-speaking Wallonia.

Ms Aelvoet, leader of the Agalev environmentalist party in Flanders and environment and public health minister, said the decision to grant an export licence for the guns went against her convictions.

Romano Prodi, the European commission president, said it was up to governments to judge whether potential buyers met the criteria for arms sales under an EU code of conduct which forbids weapons exports to countries that might use them for aggression or internal repression.

The commission believed Nepal was a democratic state and would send observers to elections scheduled for November, he said.