§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the evidential basis is for the statements made on page 34 and 35 of the Iraq dossier of 24 September on inspections by UNSCOM of the presidential sites. [135348]
§ Mr. RammellOnly one team of inspectors (UNSCOM 243) was allowed to visit Presidential Sites under a special arrangement facilitated by the UN Secretary-General. Their report of their visit to the sites makes clear that they were not able to carry out full inspections at any of he sites. They were never allowed to return.
The full report of UNSCOM 243 can be found on the UNSCOM internet website at: www.un.org/Depts/unscom/s98–326.htm.
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's contribution to the provision of a civil police service in Iraq. [137777]
§ Mr. RammellThere are currently a total of 10 UK police officers in Iraq; three in Basra and seven in Baghdad. Our focus is on recruiting, training and deploying more Iraqi police officers. We plan to deploy a further 24 UK officers to Basra in the near future and 1053W up to a further 75 UK police officers towards a multinational effort to train new Iraqi recruits at a training facility in Jordan. The first nine of these 75 police officers are already in Jordan and another 27 are planning to depart on 23 November.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Iraqi(a) civilians, (b) police officers and (c) military police he estimates have been killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq since 1 May. [137995]
§ Mr. RammellThere are no reliable statistics available for the number of civilian casualties. I expect to have further information shortly on the Iraqi police killed, and I will write to my hon. Friend.
Although the first battalion of the Iraqi Army completed training on 4 October, there are no Iraqi military police at present.
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts are being made in Iraq to re-employ the Iraqis who are unemployed; what discussions he has on assisting these people while unemployed; and if he will make a statement. [138702]
§ Mr. RammellThe Coalition and Iraqi ministries have placed very significant emphasis on the need to sustain and stimulate employment in Iraq. The payment in full of public sector wages has returned rewards for work to many crucial employees. A micro-finance programme has been created for small businesses and rules on foreign direct investment and tariff holidays have also been introduced to promote the Iraqi private sector, protecting existing jobs and creating new ones.
As a result of the publication of the Iraqi Budgets for 2003 and 2004, for the first time in decades the revenue from Iraqi oil sales is being spent on meeting the needs of the Iraqi people. In combination with the many billions of dollars of international reconstruction funding being channelled into Iraq this public expenditure is stimulating demand for labour.
With the exception of senior Ba'athists, former members of the military who lost their job as a result of disbanding the Iraqi army have been paid a stipend. Many are also undergoing retraining to join the new Iraqi security forces.