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Belarus

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe regarding the recent referendum vote in Belarus; and if he will make a statement. [193821]

Mr. MacShane: On 18 October, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to Belarus issued its preliminary findings and conclusions on the 17 October election and referendum. Initial discussions took place in the OSCE's Permanent Council on 21 October. There will be further discussions when the IEOM releases its final report. We will press for clear EU action within the framework of the OSCE. We will also press Belarus to implement the recommendations in the final report.

British Indian Ocean Territories

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he received from British Indian Ocean
 
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Territory citizens concerning their economic well being in (a) Mauritius, (b) the Seychelles and (c) the UK; and if he will make a statement. [194012]

Mr. Rammell: I have from time to time received representations from the leader of the Chagossian community in Mauritius concerning the economic well being of that community, but I have received no comparable representations from Chagossians in Seychelles. In addition, a representative of the Chagossians who recently arrived in the UK contacted my officials who advised that any matter relating to the Chagossians' well being in this country should be raised with the local social services.

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much compensation has been paid by the UK Government to former residents of the Chagos Islands; and how many recipients there have been. [193283]

Mr. Rammell: £650,000 was paid to the Mauritius Government in the early 1970s to meet the cost of resettling the islanders. Under a 1982 Treaty between HMG and the Mauritius Government, negotiated and concluded with the agreement of representatives of the islanders, a further £4 million was paid by HMG into a Trust Fund for the benefit of the Chagossians. In addition, the Mauritius Government vested land to the value of a further £1 million in the Trust Fund.

By the end of 1986, the trustees of the Fund, consisting of representatives of the Mauritius Government and the Chagossians themselves, had disbursed payments to around 1350 former islanders. This constituted the total population of those recognised by the trustees as members of the Chagossian community.

The total compensation already paid would amount to over £14 million at today's prices.

Falkland Islands

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent discussions with the Argentinean Government in relation to the future of the Falkland Islands. [193464]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Argentine Foreign Minister Bielsa during the United Nations General Assembly on 22 September. They discussed a variety of issues including those relating to the Falkland Islands. The Foreign Secretary made clear that the UK has no doubts about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and the surrounding maritime area, and that we will not negotiate on sovereignty unless and until the Islanders wish that.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions have taken place with the Governments of (a) Argentina, (b) Chile, (c) Brazil and (d) Uruguay regarding port blockades on vessels travelling to and from the Falkland Islands. [193465]

Mr. Rammell: There are no port blockades on vessels travelling to and from the Falkland Islands and Latin America. Merchant ships (including cruise ships and
 
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fishing vessels) travel freely between ports in the region. Naval vessels are subject to the usual discussions on diplomatic channels.

Discussions with the Governments of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay take place as necessary.

Georgia/Abkhazia

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Georgia-Abkhaz peace process. [193915]

Mr. Rammell: Talks between the parties, under the auspices of the resident Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations continue, but 2004 has been a period of reduced diplomatic activity overall. The new Georgian Government concentrated their attention first on Ajara and then on South Ossetia; and political energies in Abkhazia have focused on the leadership elections which took place there on 3 October.

We have continued to keep in touch with the parties, with the United Nations, and with our French, German, Russian and United States colleagues on the group of Friends of the Secretary-General. We look forward to the early reactivation of work on confidence-building, with particular reference to the conditions needed to ensure the safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons, in the first place to the Gali district of Abkhazia.

Iraq

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement of the Secretary of State for Defence of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 642, on UK forces (Iraq), what assessment he has made of the effect of alleged corruption at the UN during the Oil for Food Programme on the current insurgency in Iraq. [193174]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The Government conducts regular assessments of the insurgency in Iraq, including sources of funding. But assessments of funding have been limited owing to the invisible nature of most transactions, and it has not been possible to make a definitive judgement. Although it is difficult to be precise, we believe that elements of the insurgency have access to funds of the former regime, some of which, it is reasonable to assume, may have been derived through corruption under the Oil for Food Programme. The Government continues to work hard through the UN Security Council to ensure that assets belonging to the former government of Iraq are frozen and transferred to the Development Fund for Iraq in compliance with resolution 1483 (22 May 2003).

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his reply of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1836W, on Iraq, when the full assessment of Iraq's declaration of the status of its programmes of weapons of mass destruction was completed. [194025]

Mr. Rammell [holding answer 26 October 2004]: A full assessment of the text of the Iraqi declaration was completed on 21 December 2002. The supporting documentation was reviewed and summarised to ensure
 
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it did not contain any information which contradicted the main body of the declaration. This was concluded in early March 2003.

Iraq Survey Group Report

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the conclusions of the Iraq Survey Group with which he does not agree; and if he will give the reason for disagreement in each case. [190696]

Mr. MacShane: There are three principal areas of disagreement, all concerning Iraq's nuclear programme:

The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) report concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that Iraq sought to procure uranium from Africa in the 1990s. The Government continues to believe that credible evidence exists to support the assertion made in the September 2002 dossier. Lord Butler of Brockwell's review upheld that belief. The UK was not in a position to share all the intelligence on this issue with the ISG.

The ISG also expressed doubt that the aluminium tubes referred to in the September dossier were evidence of a resumption of Iraq's nuclear programmes. Again, Lord Butler's review assessed this, and concluded that the Joint Intelligence Committee were right to include reference to the tubes in the dossier and that it properly reflected doubts about the use of the tubes in the caution of its assessments. The Government fully accepts the findings of Lord Butler's review.

The ISG also report that they found no evidence to support the claim in the dossier that Iraq "is almost certainly seeking an indigenous ability to enrich uranium" based on gas centrifuge technology. They do, however, admit that elements of useful and relevant technologies were being developed.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy, following the publication of the Iraq Survey Group report, to correct all instances in the Official Report in which he or other Ministers in his Department stated that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction; and if he will establish an investigation into the reasons he and other departmental ministers were provided with inaccurate briefings that underpinned these answers. [190942]

Mr. MacShane: No. The Official Report is produced in order to provide an accurate account of current business in the House. All instances on which Ministers stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction accurately reflected the position of the Government based upon information available at the time. The information that underpinned these statements was the subject of the review headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell.

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