§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will propose to the United Nations Human Rights Commission that the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary and Arbitrary Executions should conduct an inquiry into the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr and his two sons at the Kufah Mosque in Najaf, Iraq, on Friday 19 February; that the Rapporteur should invite persons with knowledge of this crime to communicate their evidence to him; and that the invitation should be broadcast over as many radio and television channels receivable in Iraq as possible. [HL1403]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Government were appalled to learn of the assassination of Ayatollah al-Sadr, which followed other apparently politically-motivated attacks on Shia religious figures in Iraq over the past year. We urge the Iraqi authorities to conduct a full investigation into these deaths and bring the perpetrators to justice. I would assure the noble Lord that we are pursuing this matter. We look forward to hearing the Special Rapporteur's view on this and similar events at the UN Commission on Human Rights.