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Mr. Kennedy: When?

The Prime Minister: Well, because the matter is under review I cannot say when I might decide or not decide. All I can say is that no decision to send additional troops has been taken.

As for the phased withdrawal of existing troops, when the Iraqi Government and the multinational force publish the plans—I hope that that will occur towards the end of July—we will be able to see a clear plan for the build-up of Iraqi police, civil defence, specialised units and armed forces, and it may be easier at that point to give people a clearer idea of how the need for British troops will diminish. We will stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to get the job done. Obviously, the whole purpose of the process is to build up the Iraqi security capability so that we can reduce the necessity for the multinational force.

As I said a moment ago, our forces remain under our command, and martial law in Iraq is the latest hare to be set away in that particular debate. The Iraqi Government obviously want to take tough security measures. The terrorists have killed coalition troops, but the principal victims of terrorism in Iraq are innocent Iraqi civilians. Some reports in the newspapers about the thousands of Iraqis who have died since the conflict began, or even since the conflict ended, seem to suggest that that was a result of the coalition's actions. Of course, some situations in which civilians were killed involved coalition forces, but terrorists, whom coalition forces are trying to stop, are responsible for the vast bulk of the killings in Iraq.

I do not believe that the Iraqi Government want to introduce martial law, but they want to take tough security measures. It is perfectly obvious that one reason for the full transfer of sovereignty is to give responsibility to the Iraqis. One can talk about Iraqi public opinion, because now people can express their views, and, as far as I can make out, the Iraqi people's concern about the multinational force is not that its measures were too tough, but that they were not tough enough.

I spoke to the Secretary-General of the United Nations about Sudan yesterday, and we are doing everything that we can. Colin Powell is currently in Sudan, and we continue to urge the Government of Sudan to co-operate in every possible way. I must get back to the right hon. Gentleman on the help that we are providing for refugees who enter Chad, but we are providing significant support for the Government and the people of the region.

 
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Donald Anderson (Swansea, East) (Lab): The current Secretary-General and his predecessor both called Afghanistan a test case for NATO now that the out-of-area debate is over. When the Foreign Affairs Committee was in Afghanistan last month, it was made clear to us that NATO was failing that test. Apart from the praise for the British contribution to the provincial reconstruction team in Mazar-e-sharif, it was clear that several NATO countries were not delivering on their promises and that even if they did supply troops, they were so surrounded with cautions and reservations that they were unable to do their job effectively.

My right hon. Friend says that 5 million of the electorate have been registered, but that is still less than half the total, and only in the easy areas. Can he truly say that he is satisfied that the other NATO members have recognised the seriousness of the situation—that it is indeed a test case—and that this time they will deliver all that is necessary?

The Prime Minister: The honest answer to my right hon. Friend is that I hope that they do. It is very clear how NATO should develop over the coming years. We made a good start at the NATO summit, but I would describe it as a start and, as yet, no more than that. We need the capability and commitment. As regards Afghanistan, as President Karzai pointed out, the people who are being killed are innocent civilians—in particular, women who want to register to vote, because terrorists have an issue with those women. Two female registration officers were assassinated the other day. I hope that if we get the right report back on the NATO response force, we will deploy that force specifically to help with the election process. There may still be many people to register, but 5 million is an extraordinary achievement for Afghanistan.

Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con): At the NATO summit, did the Prime Minister boast, as he has today, of the part that he has played in handing over to a disarmed transitional Iraqi Government a country that he helped to plunge into blood-soaked chaos—it is in that state now, and getting much worse than it was under Saddam Hussein—all of which was done in the search for non-existent weapons of mass destruction?

The Prime Minister: First, on WMD, let me remind the hon. Gentleman that Saddam used those against his own citizens. We have already found the remains of about 300,000 people in mass graves in Iraq. One million people died or suffered serious injury as a result of the Iran-Iraq war.

Whatever problems Iraqi people may have with the coalition forces, it is extraordinary to suggest that they would prefer Saddam. The hon. Gentleman says that life was better under Saddam, but that is not their view. Their view is that they have the prospect of making their own lives of better, of having democracy and the rule of law, and of having proper civil rights and civil liberties—but that the terrorists stand in their way. Even people who totally disagreed with the decision to begin the conflict can surely see that there is only one side to be on now—that of the Iraqis, the international community, and the American and British soldiers who are making the place better.
 
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Sir Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab): Taking into account what my right hon. Friend said about the vital necessity of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue; taking into account, too, the right of the Palestinian people to democracy and freedom; noting yesterday's ruling by the Israeli courts on the huge damage that is being inflicted on the Palestinians by the present line of the Israeli wall; in the expectation of the ruling by the international court next week on the legality of Israeli wall; and taking into account the continued deaths on both sides, including the deaths of Palestinian and Israeli children, will my right hon. Friend now make his top international priority the pursuit of progress on the road map?

The Prime Minister: I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend about the importance of that topic; a very large part of my bilateral meeting with President Bush the other day was devoted to it. That is why the Quartet—the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union—is publishing plans for Palestinian security and economic and political reform. In my view, it is essential that when the disengagement plan goes ahead, we are in a position that at least in Gaza and parts of the west bank, the Palestinians have the beginnings of what can be the nucleus of a viable and democratic state.

That is not to say, in any shape or form, that that will be the end of it. There have to be final status negotiations that allow us—based, as we have said before, on the 1967 boundaries—to create a viable Palestinian state. The primary objective that I am working for is to ensure, first, that the disengagement goes ahead, and then that the international community is ready to step into the vacuum that will come about in respect of Gaza and the west bank. I assure my right hon. Friend that I will continue to make this a huge priority for the Government and for our work in the international community.

Sir John Stanley (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con): Is the Prime Minister aware that the failure of significant numbers of NATO members to deliver on their force commitments to Afghanistan not only threatens the credibility of NATO out of area, but seriously threatens the future of stability and democracy in Afghanistan itself? Will the Prime Minister do his utmost, with his Defence and Foreign Secretaries, to persuade the backsliding NATO members to deliver on their force commitments? Several of us who have recently been in Afghanistan believe that unless the security situation is significantly improved—that means boots on the ground—it will be too late.

The Prime Minister: I agree, and it is for precisely that reason that we insisted that Afghanistan should form the major part of the discussions that we had at the NATO summit. The strategic importance of succeeding there is absolutely obvious. We have taken important decisions, particularly on the deployment of the response force. I hope that we will manage to get that force to support the elections, because that will make a difference. The next few months will be a real test of NATO's commitment.

David Winnick (Walsall, North) (Lab): Arising from what my right hon. Friend said about the rule of law
 
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earlier today and in his statement, did he take the opportunity over the weekend to tell President Bush directly that what is being proposed for the British detainees in Guantanamo Bay is simply unacceptable, and that the patience of both Houses of the British Parliament is wearing rather thin? Does President Bush understand the feelings expressed on this issue by those of us who certainly have no time for terrorism, and never will have?

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