§ Glenda JacksonTo ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the complete report of the Iraq Survey Group. [153081]
§ The Prime MinisterThe report is the responsibility of the United States authorities, specifically the Director of Central Intelligence. Publication of the complete report is a matter for them.
§ Glenda JacksonTo ask the Prime Minister for what reason, following intelligence assessments by the Joint Intelligence Committee in October and December 2002 and in March 2003, the Government did not support the request by UN inspectors for more time to complete their searches. [153432]
1197W
§ The Prime MinisterAs I have said previously, Iraq was in material breach of 23 out of 27 obligations set by 9 UN Security Council resolutions over 12 years. The primary objective of UN Security Council resolution 1441 was the disarmament of Iraq and made clear that compliance must be full, unconditional and immediate, including the requirement to co-operate fully with the weapons inspectors.
Iraq ignored that requirement; what co-operation it offered was grudging and partial, and was outweighed by the obstacles it raised to the inspectors' work. In light of this, we concluded that the UN weapons inspectors would never be able to complete the task allocated to them by the Security Council under resolution 1441.
As I made repeatedly clear at the time, the issue was not about time, it was about full co-operation. If the Iraqi regime had been co-operating, the inspectors could have had more time.
And as the evidence from Dr. David Kay to the US Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on Iraqi WMD and related programmes on 28 January 2004 made clear, in his opinion: "All I can say is that among an extensive body of UN—of Iraqi scientists who were talking to us, they have said: "The UN interviewed us. We did not tell them the truth. We did not show them this equipment. We did not talk about these programs. We couldn't do it as long as Saddam was in power." I suspect regardless of how long they had stayed, that attitude would have been the same". Full transcripts of this evidence have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
§ Llew SmithTo ask the Prime Minister what efforts have been made by the Government to interview(a)Scott Ritter, (b) Hans Von Sponeck, (c) Denis Halliday and (d) Tun Myat in relation to Iraqi military capabilities and intentions. [153751]
§ The Prime MinisterThe Iraq Survey Group is interviewing anyone who it believes will be able to help its enquiries. It has not interviewed any of these individuals. Any relevant information which they may have had was made available to the United Nations.
§ Llew SmithTo ask the Prime Minister what arrangements he has put in place to monitor evidence presented to the United States Administration's inquiry into the intelligence on Iraq's military programme. [153897]
§ The Prime MinisterWe shall be monitoring the US inquiry closely.
§ Adam PriceTo ask the Prime Minister which hon. and right hon. Members were(a) asked by him to comment on a draft version of the September dossier,(b)given a briefing by Sir John Scarlett in advance of publication and (c) given an advance copy pre-publication. [153902]
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) on 18 September 2003,Official Report, column 870W, and on 15 October 2003, Official Report, columns 233–34W. My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith) was also briefed on 19 September 2002.
1198WIn addition, members of the Cabinet were provided with an advance copy of the dossier prior to its publication.
§ Adam PriceTo ask the Prime Minister whether a complete list of those who were asked to comment on draft versions of the 24 September dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was provided to members of the Intelligence and Security Committee for the purpose of its inquiry published in September 2003 on weapons of mass destruction and intelligence assessment. [153931]
§ The Prime MinisterNo. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) did not request such a list.