Iraq (Hansard, 20 January 2003)

§ Dr. Tonge
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evaluation he has made of the ability of the UN oil for food programme to continue in the event of war in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [91123]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq and military action is not inevitable. The future of the oil for food programme in the event of any military action would depend on the circumstances at the time. The UN is preparing for all eventualities.

§ Dr. Tonge
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to his US counterpart regarding the protection of water and sanitation supplies in the event of military intervention in Iraq; [91124]
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(2) what representations he has made to his US counterpart regarding the protection of food security in the event of military intervention in Iraq. [91125]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq and military action is not inevitable. We regularly discuss all aspects of Iraq policy with our US colleagues.

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of the Iraqi document on weapons of mass destruction of 8 December 2002 were released to the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council; and what the response has been of those non-permanent members. [91345]

§ Mr. Rammell
Under relevant non-proliferation conventions, China. France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are obliged to prevent the dissemination of information relating to the production of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.
The President of the UN Security Council therefore decided that the full Iraqi declaration should be given only to these members of the Security Council, who also have the expertise to assess the risks of proliferation. His decision followed consultations with all members of the Security Council.
The non-permanent members received the main body of the Declaration excluding a number of sensitive passages and words that were omitted by UNMOVIC and the IAEA who, after consulting the Security Council members with expertise to assess the risks of proliferation, judged them to contain information which might be of use to potential WMD proliferators.
Several non-permanent members have expressed a wish to see the complete declaration. There continues to be discussion on whether arrangements should he made to enable non-permanent members to consult a copy of the full Declaration.

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what procedures the United States gained first access to Iraq's document of 8 December 2002 on weapons of mass destruction. [91346]

§ Mr. Rammell
Under relevant non-proliferation conventions, China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are obliged to prevent the dissemination of information relating to the production of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.
The President of the UN Security Council therefore decided that the full Iraqi declaration should be given only to these members of the Security Council who also have the expertise to assess the risks of proliferation. His decision followed consultations with all members of the Security Council.