Iraq (Hansard, 10 July 2003)

§ Mr. Simmonds
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many personnel have been deployed by(a) the UK and (b) coalition partners since 9 April 2003 to secure sites identified by the coalition as vital to the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [115515]

§ Mr. Hoon
I have been asked to reply.
No United Kingdom personnel have been deployed to Iraq specifically to secure sites which may be related to programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. UK Commanders in Iraq have been instructed to secure possible chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear hazards, with the aim of making their areas of operations safe for military forces and civilians, and to provide support, as appropriate, to efforts to investigate sites which may be related to programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. Details of deployments of other coalition personnel are a matter for their respective Governments.

§ Mr. Best
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on information gathered by the Department's forensic team in Iraq about Iraqi citizens who have disappeared; and what assistance his Department is seeking from human rights organisations in uncovering the fate of such people. [123690]

§ Mr. Rammell
We are currently studying the recommendations of the team of forensic experts that we sent to Iraq. Their proposals include establishing an identification programme for bodies found in mass graves. We are in regular contact with human rights organisations on these issues. The Coalition Provisional Authority are setting up an Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Iraq, whose tasks will include liaison with non-governmental organisations on human rights issues.

§ Mr. Best
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government will provide for the families of Iraqi citizens who disappeared in Iraq seeking a return of their confiscated property and assets in Iraq. [123691]

§ Mr. Rammell
We recognise the past suffering of the Iraqi people, and the grief they have experienced. However, it will be for the Iraqi people to take decisions regarding possible compensation for confiscated property and assets of those who disappeared. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is setting up an Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, which will include the issue of the disappeared in its remit. The CPA is working with NGOs and international organisations on proposals to assist in this area, including counselling and advocacy, which might benefit surviving family members.

§ Mr. Best
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet the Committee for the Release of Hostages and Detainees in Iraq to discuss the fate of the disappeared in Iraq. [123692]

§ Mr. Rammell
The Coalition Provisional Authority is leading efforts to identify missing persons throughout Iraq, stemming from the brutal policies of imprisonment and execution under Saddam Hussein.986W We have already conducted an assessment with the International Commission on Missing Persons, and are working to facilitate the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and local organisations to create an overall comprehensive database and approach to missing persons. This will include strengthening the capacity of local organisations to feed into this process and provide counselling and community support.
I would suggest that the Committee for the Release of Hostages and Detainees in Iraq write to my officials in the Iraq Policy Unit in the first instance.

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reliability of the information contained in the UNMOVIC working document, Unresolved Disarmament Issues, Iraq's Proscribed Weapons Programme, issued on 6 March. [123759]

§ Mr. MacShane
The working document issued on 6 March was read carefully by Ministers and officials.
As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in his speech to the UN Security Council on 7 March I have read … all 167 pages of that report in every particular. It's a very painstaking piece of work … But it's also a chilling read about the failure of Iraq to comply with successive resolutions of this Council over each day of the past 12 years …

§ Miss McIntosh
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on delivering peace in Iraq. [124428]

§ Mr. Rammell
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Iraq and the evolving role of the EU, in helping to rebuild Iraq's future, with EU colleagues at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg on 16 June and in the margins of the European Council in Thessaloniki on 19/20 June. At Thessaloniki the EU made a commitment to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq within the framework of UNSCR 1483 and to the development of a prosperous and stable Iraq.