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Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement the British high commissioner for Cyprus is having with (a) the Greek Cypriot and (b) the Turkish Cypriot Mayors of Famagusta in efforts to redevelop the town. [187845]

Mr. MacShane: The British high commission, including the high commissioner, maintains contacts with a wide range of individuals and groups on both sides interested in the development of Famagusta.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) support from the British Government and (b) financial support from the European Union he will seek to give to the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot Mayors of Famagusta to reopen the port of Famagusta. [187846]

Mr. MacShane: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 1 September 2004, Official Report, column 680W.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had in his recent meeting with Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat on his willingness to co-operate with the Greek Cypriot Government on seeking to resolve the issue of missing people following the events of 1974 in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement. [187847]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not directly address the question of missing persons on Cyprus in his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Talat on 1 July. But the Government have in the recent past made it clear to Mr. Talat that we applaud his commitment to resolve this longstanding issue.

As my hon. Friend knows, staff at the British High Commission in Nicosia work closely with the United Nations' Acting Third Member of the Committee on Missing Persons in order to identify areas where the UK can play a helpful role. We welcome the recent resumption of formal meetings of the Committee on Missing Persons and urge both sides to do all they can to resolve this painful humanitarian issue as soon as possible and in the best interest of the families.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Northern Cyprus Administration to ensure that the land on which property developments are taking place do not belong to Greek Cypriot people who left Northern Cyprus following the events of 1974; and if he will make a statement. [187848]

Mr. MacShane: Satisfactorily resolving the issue of property is central to achieving a comprehensive and sustainable settlement in Cyprus. The UN Secretary General's comprehensive proposals set out a way to resolve the property questions, based in part on Greek Cypriot ideas. It is a matter of deep regret that the UN Secretary-General's settlement plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriots on 24 April.
 
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In our contacts with both sides, we have always urged that they avoid any action that might be prejudicial to a settlement. This applies to all aspects of the Cyprus problem, including property.

Because of the political situation in Cyprus, the Government advises that UK citizens take qualified legal advice before purchasing property anywhere on the island. We also point out that those considering a purchase in the north of Cyprus should be aware that the non-recognition of the 'TRNC' and a future settlement of the Cyprus problem could have implications for their property.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had in his recent meeting in London with Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat on the involvement of the Turkish army in the day-to-day affairs of Northern Cyprus; and what future role he wishes to see the Turkish army have in Cyprus. [187849]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I discussed a wide range of issues with Mr. Talat, including Turkish troops in northern Cyprus.

An integral element of the UN Secretary General's comprehensive proposals, supported by the UK, was the demilitarisation of the island and progressive withdrawal of foreign troops (both Greek and Turkish)—ultimately leaving just 950 Greek and 650 Turkish troops, as sanctioned by the 1960 treaties. As the plan was not accepted by both sides, there is no agreement on early withdrawal of Turkish troops.

Any steps taken now, however, to reduce existing troop levels by either side would be welcome.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had in his recent meeting with Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat on the future of Famagusta and of the development of facilities within the town; and if he will make a statement. [187850]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not discuss the development of Famagusta town with Mr. Talat during their meeting on 1 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 1 September 2004, Official Report, column 680W.

Guantanamo Bay

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when complaints made by British citizens held in detention by the United States Government at Camp Delta in Guantanamo in Cuba, in respect of their treatment during questioning and generally while being detained, were made known to him; what investigations he made into the allegations; what consequent actions he took; whether he has examined the allegations made by three British former detainees from Tipton in their collective dossier released in August; and what representations he has made to his United States counterpart on this matter. [187501]

Mr. Mullin: British officials have visited British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay on eight occasions. Following each visit, Ministers have been
 
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informed of the details of the visit, including any complaints made by the detainees. Follow-up action has then been taken with the US authorities at all levels, including at Foreign Minister level. We continue to pursue actively with the US authorities our outstanding welfare concerns. We are also examining the recent report issued by the three British former detainees from Tipton.

Iraq

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2004, Official Report, column 1303W, on Iraq, what methodology was used to assess that there was no new information contained in the quantities of documents that remained to be translated; and whether all the documents that formed the declaration have now been translated. [187392]

Mr. MacShane: In the interests of speed, the process of analysing the Iraqi declaration concentrated on identifying key words and passages to which priority translation was given. It quickly became clear that Iraq had not provided information on the outstanding disarmament issues that had been identified by the UN Special Commission in their final report.

Translation of the declaration was complete by mid-March 2003.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether UNMOVIC and the IAEA decided that parts of the Iraqi declaration of its weapons of mass destruction needed to be excised before it distributed the report to all members of the UN Security Council; and whether all members of the Security Council have now received (a) an unedited and (b) an edited version of the declaration. [187393]

Mr. MacShane: Certain passages of the Iraqi declaration relating to Iraq's nuclear programme were excised by UNMOVIC and the IAEA before distribution to non-nuclear weapon states. All members of the Security Council at the time received copies of this edited version. The full version was made available only to the Permanent Members of the Security Council.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the UK Government became aware that Iraq had 500 tonnes of yellowcake stored at a facility near Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad. [187396]

Mr. MacShane: Under UN Security Council resolution 687, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was mandated to investigate and dismantle Iraq's nuclear weapons programmes and to monitor all nuclear-related activity in Iraq. As part of this process, in the early part of the 1990s, the IAEA consolidated Iraq's stockpiles of nuclear materials and other radioactive sources on a single site near Tuwaitha for ease of on-going monitoring. The yellowcake in question was included in this exercise. It was also declared by Iraq as part of their Full, Final and Complete Declaration of nuclear activities and materials submitted to the UN in 1996. All of the materials consolidated at the site were subject to continuous IAEA inspection and verification.
 
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Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 22 July, Official Report, column 544W, on Iraq, whether the Leader of the Opposition had access to the same primary intelligence as the Prime Minister relating to (a) the September 2002 dossier, (b) the February 2003 dossier and (c) the threat posed to the UK by Iraq from May 1997 to the commencement of military action against Iraq in March 2003. [187715]

Mr. Straw: The details of briefings given on Privy Council terms are confidential.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer from the Minister for the armed forces of 7 September 2003, Official Report, column 612, on Iraq, what discussions he has had with the Government of Iraq about the banning of al-Jazeera. [188481]

Mr. Alexander: The decision to close the al-Jazeera office in Baghdad was made by the Iraqi Interim Government.

We have repeatedly made clear to the Iraqi Government the importance we attach to media freedom in Iraq and the need to strengthen the institutions established by the Coalition Provisional Authority to ensure this. We will continue to do so.

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