§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements are being made in Iraq for the surrender and destruction of weapons of all kinds still held by civilians and ex-military personnel in all areas controlled by allied forces; and whether they consider it reasonable that distribution of free food be made conditional on the giving up of arms. [HL2494]
§ Lord BachUnited Kingdom forces have destroyed some caches of weaponry discarded by the Iraqi military. A more systematic process of disarmament, both of civilians and of ex-military personnel, will be a matter for a new Iraqi government, drawing on the expertise of the international community and organisations such as the UN.
Where it is safe for them to do so, UK forces are 66WA distributing humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. This will continue until the security situation stabilises sufficiently for the full deployment of civilian aid agencies. Distribution of aid is conducted on the basis of need, not of disarmament.