Iraq (Hansard, 21 October 2002)

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Prime Minister (1) what the basis is of the assertion at page 17 of his dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein is determined to retain the weapons of mass destruction that the dossier discusses; [75830]
(2) if he will set out the technical basis for the assertion made at page 19 in the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that chemical or biological weapons could be deployed within 45 minutes of an order to do so; [75829]
(3) what the basis is for the assertion at paragraph 30, page 30 of the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein remains committed to developing longer-range weapons. [75828]

§ The Prime Minister
These points reflect specific intelligence information. In the area of longer-range weapons, paragraph 28 of the dossier also explains the significance of the new engine test stand at al-Rafah, which has a capability to test engines for missiles with ranges over 1000km.

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Prime Minister for what reasons hon. Members were not provided with copies of his dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction before the day it was debated in Parliament. [75686]
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§ The Prime Minister
The Government was working to a tight deadline. The dossier was made available at 8am on Tuesday 24 September in order for Members and Peers to be able to consider it before the debate.

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Prime Minister what assessment Her Majesty's Government made of the report on Iraq's military production and deployment capabilities published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in September; and whether Iraq could assemble nuclear weapons within months if it had sufficent fissile materials. [75868]

§ The Prime Minister
The International Institute for Strategic Studies report was an independent and well-researched overview of the evidence available in the public domain. Our assessment, as the dossier states, is that if Iraq obtained fissile material and other essential components from foreign sources, it could produce a nuclear weapon in between one and two years.