Iraq (Hansard, 15 March 2004)

§ Mr. Andrew Turner
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his oral answer of 26 January 2003,Official Report, column 8, on Iraq, to the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor), what resources were in theatre but did not reach front-line forces in time for deployment. [151711]

§ Mr. Hoon
[holding answer 29 January 2004]: A full report on Operation TELIC entitled "Operations in Iraq: Lessons for the Future" can be found on the MOD's website (www.mod.uk in the "Publications and Reports" section). The report identifies several factors as being responsible for delivery problems that occurred in theatre. These include the asset tracking systems in place and the short period of time available for preparation and planning of deployment. Specific items that suffered from delivery problems in theatre include some vehicle spares and personal kit such as, desert combat clothing and Enhanced Combat Body Armour plates. Where there was a lack of equipment, priority was given to those personnel on the ground whom commanders judged to have the greatest need. We have drawn lessons from this and other recent operations, such as improving our asset tracking capability, and are always looking for ways in which to enhance our logistics performance.

§ Adam Price
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of civilian deaths arising from attacks by insurgents in the British zone in Southern Iraq since the official cessation of hostilities. [153872]

§ Mr. Ingram
It is not possible to estimate the number of civilian deaths which might be attributable to insurgent attacks.

§ Mr. Keetch
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2004,Official Report, column 790W, on Iraq, how many rounds were issued to the Royal Military Police Personnel who lost their lives in Al Majarr Al Kabir on 24 June 2003; and if he will make a statement. [160227]

§ Mr. Ingram
A Board of Inquiry (BOI) is being convened today, to examine the circumstances in which the 6 Royal Military Policemen died. The BOI will address a wide-ranging series of questions including the48W issue of equipment to the men prior to their departure for Al Majarr Al Kabir. I would not wish to speculate on the BOFs conclusions.

§ Mr. Amess
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants are searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [160604]

§ Mr. Ingram
On 9 March 2004 there were 22 UK civil servants attached to the Iraq Survey Group, which is responsible for the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the British members of the Iraq Survey Group have not been provided with direct access to the Iraqi Government declaration on its weapons of mass destruction programme dated 8 December 2002. [161188]

§ Mr. Hoon
The Iraqi Declaration on WMD programmes consists of 12,093 pages, some 3,500 of which are written in Arabic. The declaration covers Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, Nuclear and Missile activities. The full document is available in hard copy in London and Washington, with supporting documents and translations of relevant pages of Arabic available in soft copy. Although the ISG do not have immediate access to a full copy of the declaration, British members can access relevant parts through London, whenever they wish.