§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces are serving in the Gulf; and what has been the figure in each of the last four quarters. [41853]
§ Mr. IngramThe number of United Kingdom armed forces personnel serving in the Persian Gulf region fluctuates. Operational Detachments, Defence Attaches, Liaison Officers, Staff College students, training advisory teams and other service personnel are deployed, and their numbers are kept under review. In addition assets are regularly deployed and/or recovered for a variety of reasons; for example in September and October 2001 23,000 men and women were deployed to Oman for exercise Saif Sareea II.
The number of Service personnel in the Gulf region at the beginning of March is approximately 2,100.
Information relating to earlier periods is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are based in Kuwait; and how this figure has changed in the last three months. [41855]
§ Mr. IngramAs at 12 March there are 494 Service personnel based in Kuwait. On 4 January this year there were 496.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans he has in place to reinforce British troop deployments in the Gulf to support a United States strategy of pursuing military action in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [41856]
§ Mr. IngramWe share the concerns of all responsible Governments about Iraq's relationship with terrorism as well as its development of weapons of mass destruction and the potential threat the Iraqi regime poses to the international community. We are conducting a range of contingency planning, to keep all of our options open. There has been no decision to pursue military action in Iraq.