§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government of Iraq is co-operating with the Red Cross over Kuwaiti and other prisoners held in Iraqi prisons; and what representations he has made on this matter.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe International Committee of the Red Cross chaired a meeting of the tripartite commission—coalition countries, Iraq and the ICRC—in Geneva on 1 July during which the Iraqi delegation gave its initial response to 71 out of the 609 inquiry files passed to Iraq by the ICRC over 18 months ago. We are demanding that Iraq offer information on the other files very soon. If substantive progress is not made, this matter may have to be referred to the Security Council for further action. A further meeting will be held in two months' time to review progress. We raise the plight of Kuwaiti and other missing 137W persons at the United Nations at every possible opportunity, for example when the Security Council last reviewed sanctions against Iraq on 17 May.