§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (I) pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2003,Official Report, column 38W, on depleted uranium, when his Department plans to publish information on the depleted uranium it has fired in its area of operation in Iraq; [116216]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 38W, on depleted uranium, if his Department will work with the Department of Defence in the United States of America to draw up a combined report on depleted uranium that has been fired by allied forces in Iraq. [116215]
§ Mr. CaplinThe Ministry of Defence agrees that information should be released on how much depleted uranium has been used in the Iraq conflict and where. NATO provided information following use of DU in the Balkans conflict and the United Kingdom will do so for DU it has fired in its area of operations in Iraq. We have released information on the weight of DU expended in theatre, and are releasing information on the geographical locations of firing sites to UNEP.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence gave on 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 445W, to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn). We are currently in discussion with the United States about their use of DU munitions.