§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether a timetable exists, or is being prepared, for organising effective policing in Iraq, for destroying surplus and illicit weapons and for disarming the civilian population. [HL2900]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean:A team of four UK police experts, led by Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan, is working with an international team on a full assessment of the Iraqi police service. We expect the team to issue an initial report by the end of May. In the interim the coalition military is conducting joint patrols with Iraqi police.
UK forces have destroyed some caches of weaponry discarded by the Iraqi military, and have disarmed civilians where possible. We are in touch with the US authorities in Washington and Baghdad about the most effective and appropriate way to carry out further work on the collection, management and destruction of small arms in Iraq.