§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is he will provide financial and logistical support for members of the all-party group for Iraqi Shias to monitor the delivery of aid in southern Iraq and related matters.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThere is no provision within the aid programme or elsewhere within the FCO's financial resources for funding monitoring visits by members of all party groups. ODA is providing finance for assistance to southern Iraq through non-governmental organisations, including those with which my hon. Friend is associated.
While suitable arrangements for monitoring this aid are important, members of the all party group for Iraqi Shias will be aware of the Iraqi Government's consistent refusal to renew the United Nation's humanitarian operations in Iraq, and of their rejection of the proposal to place United Nations human rights monitors in the south to report on the situation. In these circumstances the United Kingdom Government would not wish to encourage United Kingdom citizens to enter the region.