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Butler Committee

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Butler Committee Inquiry will post original submissions made to the inquiry on its website; and whether he has placed any restrictions on publication of information provided to the committee. [161160]

Mr. Rammell: The Butler Committee's news release of 12 February states that the review will be carried out in private. Given the nature of much of the material the Committee will receive, normal national security rules will apply.

Cyprus

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the possible reunification of Cyprus for British interests on the island; and if he will make a statement. [161283]

Mr. Rammell: The UK has a very strong, indirect interest in a successful Cyprus settlement, which has informed our support for the UN Secretary-General's good offices mission.

A possible Cyprus settlement will have little impact on the day to day operations of the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs).

The UK has made an offer to the UN Secretary-General to cede part of the SBAs to the new United Cyprus Republic in order to facilitate a settlement. The

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land offer will only come in to effect if there is a settlement and the island unites under the terms of the UN Secretary-General's proposals. The operational effectiveness of the SBAs will not be affected.

EU Constitution

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the United Kingdom red lines in respect of the EU Constitutional Treaty; whether the draft Treaty meets these conditions; and if he will make a statement on progress that has been made in negotiating on each of these issues. [161211]

Mr. Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to Cm. 5934, the Government's White Paper on its approach to the IGC, which sets out the UK's position on the draft Constitutional Treaty.

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House in December, with regard to the IGC,

"nothing is agreed until everything is agreed".—[Official Report, 15 December 2003; Vol. 415. c. 1320.] There has been no formal agreement on any single point of the draft Treaty. It is for the Irish Presidency to build on the progress made under the Italians.

The Irish Presidency are currently consulting all member states on the prospects for resuming negotiations on the Constitutional Treaty for the EU. They will report to the European Council on 25–26 March with their conclusions.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's position is with regard to the new draft proposals of an EU constitution presented by the Irish Presidency. [161371]

Mr. Rammell: The Irish Presidency has not presented any draft proposals on the EU Constitutional Treaty. The Irish Presidency are currently consulting all member states on the prospects for resuming negotiations on the Constitutional Treaty for the EU. They will report to the European Council on 25–26 March with their conclusions.

Gender Equality

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Optional Protocol. [160903]

Mr. Rammell: The Government are currently reviewing the United Kingdom's position in relation to a number of international human rights instruments. This review includes the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women which allows the right of individual petition. We will announce the outcomes of the review to Parliament as soon as is reasonably possible.

Haiti

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the role played by small arms provided by other states during recent violence in Haiti. [161212]

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Mr. Rammell: The proliferation of small arms is of particular concern in Haiti. However, it is difficult to assess the extent of the problem of proliferation and the source of the weapons as the quality of record keeping and standards of import controls in Haiti is very poor. Furthermore with no British embassy in Port-au-Prince our assessments are limited.

Regionally, the UK is providing relevant support to the CARICOM Task Force on Crime and Security, of which Haiti is a member. Last year we commissioned a report on the problem, which highlighted a series of recommendations to help address the issue. This report was presented to the CARICOM in February 2004.

Iraq

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have been detained by coalition forces in Iraq since major hostilities ceased; how many are in custody; and how many of these are non-Iraqis, broken down by nationality. [154278]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

We do not hold data on the number of people detained by coalition forces as a whole. As at 8 March 2004, 83 individuals are being held by UK forces at the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility in Multinational Division (SE) in Iraq. Of these, three are non-Iraqi—one Sudanese, one Saudi Arabian and one Egyptian.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps (a) he is taking and (b) he plans to take to ensure that British companies involve Iraqi people in the management of and employment in their operations in Iraq. [159000]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: It is important that UK companies play their part in developing Iraq, through the creation of joint business ventures, transfer of skills and technology and working with Iraqi partners in providing jobs and prosperity for the Iraqi people. UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has been working with a number of stakeholders such as the Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraqi ministries and both the Iraqi and UK private sector to help facilitate contacts. UKTI has also arranged a number of events in London, and in neighbouring countries, aimed at explaining the modalities of doing business in Iraq and bidding for reconstruction contracts. The British Reconstruction Office in Baghdad helps UK firms to identify potential Iraqi partners.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guarantees he offers to British companies wanting to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq regarding the safety of their (a) employees and (b) assets. [159001]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We do not offer guarantees to British companies regarding the safety of employees and company assets while working in Iraq. British companies considering sending staff to Iraq are advised to consult the current travel advice, published on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, www.fco.gov.uk, which advises against visits to Iraq unless there is a strong commercial or professional reason to visit. Companies

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with planned involvement in reconstruction projects are also advised to contact the Iraq Unit in UK Trade and Investment for further information.

We do provide general advice and information on a range of issues to British companies wanting to assist in the reconstruction process in Iraq but it is for the companies themselves to assess the risks of and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their employees and assets.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to work with the other occupying powers in Iraq to ensure that (a) those Iraqi workers who were dismissed for trade union activities under Saddam Hussein are reinstated and (b) the International Labour Organisation is invited to assist the framing of Iraq's new labour and employment laws. [159645]

Mr. Rammell [holding answer of 10 March 2004]: Judging the claims for reinstatement of Iraqi workers dismissed under the former regime is a matter for Iraqis. We attach great importance to the establishment of free trade unions to prevent similar abouses in the future. The Government have called on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to assist in the creation of democratic trades unions in Iraq. To this end, the ICFTU organised a fact-finding mission to Iraq in February, with support from British officials. We also used our influence in favour of the Transitional Administrative Law, signed by the Iraqi Governing Council on 8 March 2004, including guarantees of 'free peaceable assembly and the right to join associations freely, as well as the right to form and join unions and political parties freely, in accordance with the law'.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, in conjunction with other organisations, is working on a revised draft of the labour law. They are utilising the skills of not only the ILO, but also the Iraqi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the US Department of Labor, as well as several other professionals.

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