HC Deb 26 April 2004 vol 420 cc773-4W
Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the coalition's strategy for replacing soldiers with Iraqi police for law enforcement duties, with reference to(a) provision of appropriate equipment and training and (b) ensuring appropriate knowledge of international standards for law enforcement. [166994]

Mr. Rammell

There are now more than 75,000 Iraqi police working around the country. There is an extensive programme to train, equip and mentor both existing and newly recruited police officers in Iraq, in which over 100 British police trainers are involved. While significant progress has been made in many areas in building the capacity of the Iraqi police and ensuring that police take the leading role in law and order, the current security challenges mean that there is a continuing need for support from the coalition and Iraqi Civil Defence Force. The Coalition's objective is to hand responsibility for security in Iraq to the Iraq police and other security forces as soon as their capability and security conditions allows.

Mr. Flook

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of President Gayoom's support for the Ba'athist Party of Iraq. [167277]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

We are aware that President Gayoom has met Saddam Hussein in the past, but have no reason to interpret this as support for the Ba'athist Party of Iraq.

Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the second source referred to in Paragraph 93 of the Intelligence and Security Committee's report, "Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction—Intelligence and Assessments", September 2003, was the intelligence based on documentary evidence referred to in Paragraph 89 of the report; and when this second source first reported to the Secret Intelligence Service. [168301]

Mr. Straw

The Intelligence and Security Committee's report made clear that the Secret Intelligence Service's judgment about its second source was not affected by doubts about the authenticity of some of the documentary evidence received by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The report also made clear that the second source reported in September 2002.