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Australia

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Australia about its withdrawal in March 2002 from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. [177424]

Mr. Rammell: In March 2002, Australia opted out of the compulsory dispute settlement procedures provided for in Section 2 of Part XV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of articles 15, 74 and 83 of UNCLOS relating to sea boundary delimitations or those involving historic bays or titles. This exception is provided for in Article 298(l) (a) of UNCLOS. Australia has not therefore withdrawn from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and there have been no discussions between the Foreign Secretary and the Government of Australia regarding any such withdrawal.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Australia about the economic implications of the International Unitisation Agreement for East Timor. [177425]

Mr. Rammell: The UK Government has not sought, and would not seek to become involved with this bilateral agreement between Timor-Leste and Australia.

Burma

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the participation of (a) Aung San Suu Kyi, (b) the National League for Democracy and (c) ethnic minorities are conditions of Burma's membership of the Asia Europe Meeting. [176899]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers met on 17—18 April and discussed enlargement of ASEM, among other issues. WhileMinisters noted moves by the regime in Burma, including the release of some members of opposition parties, they agreed that they wanted to see further and
 
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concrete progress in Burma. EU Foreign Ministers raised in particular the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and an open and inclusive National Convention with the participation of the National League for Democracy. Ministers therefore agreed to postpone a decision on Burma's membership of ASEM, to allow ASEM members to monitor progress in Burma and review the situation in June.

Butler Inquiry

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what papers his Department has submitted to Lord Butler's inquiry into intelligence on Iraq. [177072]

Mr. Rammell: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear when he announced the establishment of the Review to the House on 3 February 2004, Official Report, columns 625–28, the Committee has access to all intelligence reports and assessments, and other relevant Government papers, and is able to call witnesses to give oral evidence in private.

Central Intelligence Agency

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which communications that the Government has received from the United States' Central Intelligence Agency since 1 May 1997 have been published; and whether the CIA has sought permission from the Government to make public communications received from the Government over that period. [176790]

Mr. Straw: The Central Intelligence Agency has published a large quantity and wide range of material since 1 May 1997. Some of this material has been passed to the British Government but records are not kept centrally. The CIA has on occasion sought permission to make public British Government information.

Guantanamo Bay

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates his officials have visited British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay; on what dates he received reports on the welfare of detainees; what representations he has made on behalf of the prisoners; and what action he took to make his concerns known to relatives or legal representatives of those detained. [177590]

Mr. Mullin: British officials have visited the British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay on the following dates: 17–20 January 2002, 26 February-1 March 2002, 27–31 May 2002, 11–15 November 2002, 21–28 April 2003, 8–10 September 2003, 8–9 March 2004. The main points arising from these visits have been reported to Parliament.

Ministers are kept informed about the visits, as are the families of the detainees. Welfare issues are raised regularly with the US authorities.

Iran

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the report submitted by Iran to the Board of
 
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Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency on 21 May on Iran's Nuclear Programmes and Activities. [177073]

Mr. MacShane: Iran's report is confidential to the Board of Governors and it is for them to assess its contents, assisted by the Agency's experts, and compare the information contained in it with their own findings from their inspection activities in Iran.

Iraq

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) the Geneva Conventions and (b) all other international humanitarian and human rights law instruments will continue to govern the actions of coalition forces in Iraq after June 30; and if he will make a statement. [176808]

Mr. Straw: The forces contributing to the Multi-National Force operating in Iraq after 30 June will act consistently with their obligations under applicable international law, including international humanitarian law.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list the dates when Government (a) Ministers and (b) officials met Ahmed Chalabi; what was discussed on each occasion; and if he will make a statement; [176810]

(2) if he will make a statement on UK Government contact with Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress (a) prior to military action in Iraq and (b) subsequent to military action. [176811]

Mr. Straw: Since Ahmed Chalabi was appointed to the Iraqi Governing Council, there have been numerous meetings with him by UK officials, notably the UK Special Representative for Iraq, his staff, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Human Rights in Iraq and the UK Mission in New York. These meetings have covered a wide range of issues. The only formal ministerial meeting was with my noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, who met him during her visit to Baghdad in March 2004. They discussed the transition process and the Oil For Food programme. I was introduced to Ahmed Chalabi and had a brief conversation with him at a US Government reception in New York during UNGA week in September 2003.

Prior to Ahmed Chalabi's appointment to the Iraqi Governing Council, the only recorded meeting took place in New York, during October 2000, where he met officials from the UK Mission to discuss sanctions and human rights.

Prior to military action, the Iraqi National Congress was in effect a loose umbrella organisation for most of the Iraqi opposition in exile. There were numerous meetings between UK officials and members of the Iraqi National Congress, both prior to and subsequent to military action.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the inclusion of material in the September 2002 dossier on Iraq originating from the Iraqi National Congress. [176812]

 
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Mr. Straw: No part of the dossier on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction published on 24 September 2002 relied upon information known to have originated from the Iraqi National Congress.

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has sought from the Coalition Provisional Authority of the (a) capacity and (b) population of prisons in (i) Iraq and (ii) Baghdad. [177208]

Mr. Rammell: There are currently 18 Iraqi prisons in operation in Iraq with a capacity of 5,500. They are under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi Correction Service (ICS), under the Ministry of Justice. Of these, 14 are in the Baghdad region. A further 16 facilities with a capacity of 23,000 are planned. The CPA Ministry of Justice team estimate the prison population nationwide to be approximately 4,000. This does not include prisoners of war, security internees or criminal detainees (held for the Iraqis) held in UK or US custody. These number around 9,000.

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