Iraq (Hansard, 3 July 2003)

§ Mr. Best
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress with the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [116956]

§ Mr. MacShane
The Coalition is investing considerable effort in the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Coalition forces are actively pursuing sites, documentation and personnel associated with Iraq's WMD programmes. The US, UK and Australia have deployed specialist personnel to carry out this task, and more will follow.
The search process itself is painstaking and detailed; we want to establish the truth beyond doubt. Given Iraq's emphasis on concealment, it is hardly surprising that concrete evidence has not yet come to light. But the search is continuing and we remain confident that evidence of Iraq's secret WMD programmes will be uncovered.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to ensure that(a) the United Nations is consulted with regard to the implementation of justice in Iraq and (b) the UN will continue to work in partnership with a new Iraqi administration. [118973]

§ Mr. Rammell
In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1483 Coalition partners have established regular and close dialogue on a range of issues with UN Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, since he arrived in Iraq on 2 June. Since his arrival Vieira de Mello has participated in Coalition meetings with Iraqi groups and pursued his own contacts with Iraqis.

§ Lynne Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2003,Official Report, column 793W, when the UK Government gave the IAEA the information upon which it based its assessment that Iraq sought to procure substantial quantities of uranium from Africa. [121588]

§ Mr. MacShane
The UK Government did not pass to the IAEA any information on Iraqi attempts to procure uranium.

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what ways Iraq failed to make a complete disclosure on its weapons of mass destruction capability in response to UN Security Council Resolution 1441. [122505]

§ Mr. MacShane
In his reports to the UN Security Council on 14 December 2002 and 9 January 2003, the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC clearly stated that the declaration provided by Iraq in December 2002 failed to provide any satisfactory answers to the outstanding disarmament issues raised by the final report of UNSCOM's Executive Chairman produced in February 1999.