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Hague Convention

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley) of 12 July 2004, Official Report, column 1060W, on The Hague Convention, what strategy the Government have put in place, and what timeline they has drawn up, for enacting the primary and secondary legislation in order for the UK to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption; and if he will make a statement. [186126]

Mr. MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) on 27 May 2004, Official Report, column 1761W.

India

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what impact the strategic alliance agreed in January between the Indian and Iranian governments has had on the Government's decision to issue licences for strategic exports to India. [186117]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There has been no need to change how we decide on our criteria on export licence applications for India following the agreement between the Indian and Iranian governments to increase their economic and civil nuclear co-operation because the policy enables changes in circumstances to be considered. We assess all export licence applications on a case-by-case basis against: the Consolidated EU and National Arms Licensing Criteria; the statement made by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Bradshaw) on 15 March 2002, Official Report, column 1298W; and in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time. Under criterion 7, we consider the risk of re-export of equipment under undesirable conditions.
 
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Iraq

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the Iraqi police force is funded. [184271]

Mr. Rammell: The Iraqi police budget is financed through the Iraqi budget and administered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. Iraq's budget consists of funds paid into the Development Fund for Iraq (DPI), established under United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483 of 22 May 2003. The DPI includes receipts from oil exports and transferred assets of the former Government of Iraq. Additional funding from donor countries and the US Supplemental are paying for specific projects associated with improving the Iraqi Police Service. Donor funds are either committed bilaterally or through the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI). US Supplemental funds are disbursed through the US-run Project and Contracting Office (formerly called the Project Management Office).

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received evidence that terrorists operating in Iraq have secured since May 2003 material that can be put to weapons of mass destruction use. [185149]

Mr. MacShane: We regularly receive intelligence assessments that address the situation in Iraq and its wider impact, including on the threat from international terrorism.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any hon. Members had an input into the preparation of the September 2002 Dossier, Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction. [185225]

Mr. MacShane: As has already been made clear the dossier was drafted by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), and any changes suggested by Ministers and other officials were accepted or rejected by them. This process was fully discussed in Lord Hutton's Report.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether British officials were told of Abdel Bassel Turk's concern about human rights abuses in 2003. [185949]

Mr. MacShane: The then Iraqi Minister for Human Rights, Abdel Basit Turki, raised some aspects of Coalition detention practices with British officials in November 2003.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of Iraq's declaration of the status of its programmes of weapons of mass destruction, provided to the United Nations on 8 December 2002, had been translated up to 19 March 2003; what proportion has been translated to date; what plans there are for further translation; what efforts have been made to verify details of the declaration through the work of the Iraq Survey Group; and what plans he has to make public all or part of the translated text. [186182]

Mr. MacShane: Translation of the Iraqi declaration was complete by 19 March 2003.

The Iraq Survey Group was not tasked with verifying the December 2002 declaration.
 
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The declaration was required by UN Security Council Resolution 1441. It is for the UN to decide whether to publish any part of the declaration.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in respect of the information Her Majesty's Government received from a foreign intelligence source suggesting that Iraq had attempted to procure uranium from Niger, checks were made with former Iraqi ambassador Wissam Al-Zahawi. [186183]

Mr. MacShane: No. In the circumstances prevailing in late 2002/early 2003 it would not have been possible for UK officials to have discussed the issue directly with ambassador Al-Zahawi.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he requested (a) the Secret Intelligence Service and (b) the Government Communications Headquarters for updated evaluations of the conclusions set out in the Government dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (i) following the dossier's publication up to 20 March 2003 and (ii) once the United Kingdom was in receipt of Iraq's declaration on its programmes of weapons of mass destruction, pursuant to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 (2002), provided on 8 December 2002. [186216]

Mr. MacShane: Intelligence has been gathered and evaluated on an on-going basis since the publication of the dossier.

Israel

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with members of the Quartet concerning an arms embargo on Israel. [186161]

Mr. Rammell: Both our EU partners and we are guided by the EU Code of Conduct on arms exports which means that we will not issue licences where there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression or aggressively against another country.

The UK government has had no discussions with the Quartet (UN, US, Russia, EU) concerning an arms embargo on Israel.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice his Department has given to contractors working on the Israeli security wall on the International Court of Justice ruling on the legality of the wall. [186246]

Mr. MacShane: The UK Government have consistently made clear their view that the building of the barrier on occupied land is illegal and harms the prospects for peace. We have urged the Israeli Government to re-route it away from occupied land, and continue to do so.

Although agreements between the Israeli Government and UK contractors are a commercial and contractual issue in which the Government cannot get directly involved, we hope that contractors will take our view on the barrier into account. The UK Government are not aware of any UK companies working on the construction of the Israeli barrier.
 
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Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the UK companies involved in the construction of the Israeli security wall. [186247]

Mr. MacShane: The UK Government is not aware of any UK companies involved in the construction of the Israeli barrier.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning the Citizenship and Entry into Israel law due for review at the end of July; and what assessment he has made of the human rights aspects of this law. [185441]

Mr. Rammell: My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean discussed this law and its effects with several human rights groups during her visit to Israel in October 2003. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv has also raised the law and its impact with representatives of the Israeli government.

The Israeli Cabinet has approved a number of amendments to this law and extended it for six months rather than one year. Nonetheless, the Government remains concerned that this law discriminates against Arab Israelis. Along with our EU partners, we will continue to monitor the law and its effect on Arab Israelis.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the UN concerning the positioning of a human rights rapporteur in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. [185444]

Mr. Rammell: The UK Government welcomes the efforts of John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We remain gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories, and we continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Israel.

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made no specific representations to the UN about the positioning of a human rights rapporteur in the occupied territories.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning underground aquifers and other water resources enclosed on the Israeli side of the security barrier. [185445]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean expressed concerns about the impact of the barrier, in particular the humanitarian impact on the lives of Palestinians, with a number of Israeli Ministers, most recently with the Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. The damaging effect that the barrier has had on Palestinian access to water resources is one of the aspects our representations have focused on.

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