§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs upon what evidence the claims that foreign fighters are operating in Iraq were made; how many he estimates are involved; what their countries of origin are; and if he will make a statement. [140907]
§ Mr. RammellWe have received reports that foreign fighters from a range of countries are operating in Iraq. The Government have urged Iraq's neighbours to tighten up security and border controls to deny terrorists access to Iraq. I am withholding details of the Government's estimate of the number of foreign terrorists in Iraq under Exemptions 1 and 2 of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the average(a) level and (b) number of hours of supply of electricity to the Shi'a population of Iraq (i) before and (ii) after the conflict. [141280]
§ Hilary BennI have been asked to reply.
Information on electricity supplies in Iraq is not collected on the basis of religious or ethnic groupings. The power system in southern and central Iraq particularly has suffered from a lack of maintenance over many years and since the conflict has suffered looting and sabotage. Nevertheless, good progress has been made with the restoration of power supplies so far. Power capacity in Iraq peaked in early October 2003 at 4,518MW, surpassing the pre-war level of 4,400MW. This peak level has been temporarily reduced to allow necessary long-term repairs and planned maintenance to take place.
173WThe majority of the Shi'a population are located in the South of the country and supply levels in Basrah are now generally equalling or exceeding the pre-conflict supply levels of approximately 20 hours per day. DFID is currently supporting an Emergency Infrastructure Project in the South, which is further strengthening the power supplies to key installations. This $30 million project forms part of a wider Essential Infrastructure Programme (totalling $127 million), which is being managed by the Coalition Provisional Authority.