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Georgia

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in Georgia. [198740]

Mr. Rammell: Since he came to power following elections in January 2004, President Saakashvili has put priority on reform, the fight against corruption and the re-establishment of Georgian authority over all of Georgia's regions. We have welcomed the reform measures so far undertaken, and maintain a bilateral assistance programme in support of further reform. We aim to spend £15 million over the next three years, mainly focused on poverty reduction, governance and capacity building.
 
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The situation in Georgia's two separatist regions is tense. Relative calm has been restored in South Ossetia since the crisis over the summer, but there are still regular occurrences of sniping. In Abkhazia, a stand-off persists between the two main candidates for the 'presidential' elections held on 3 October, with the losing candidate refusing to accept the judgment of the Abkhaz Supreme Court. With supporters of both candidates taking to the streets the situation is threatening to turn violent.

Through our membership of the Friends of the United Nations Secretary General, the OSCE and the work of the UK's Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Sir Brian Fall, we are active in urging all involved parties to work co-operatively and prudently towards resolution of the issues. In this context we have consistently made clear our concern that the territorial integrity of Georgia should be respected.

Indonesia

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to propose that the UN review the Act of Free Choice in West Papua; and if he will make a statement. [197710]

Mr. Alexander: The UK has no plans to make such a proposal. In November 1969 the UN General Assembly discussed the report of the special representative who oversaw the implementation of the Act of Free Choice. A resolution was adopted to take note of the report and the fulfilment of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General under the 1962 Dutch/Indonesian agreement. 84 member states voted in favour, none against and 30 abstained. Any re-evaluation of the status of Papua is a matter to be resolved peacefully between the Indonesian Government and the people of Papua.

The British Government, together with other members of the international community, stress to the Indonesian authorities the need to fully implement the 2001 Special Autonomy law for Papua. This law allows for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee to look at the incorporation of Papua into Indonesia in the 1960s.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia concerning their treatment of the people of West Papua; and if he will make a statement. [197711]

Mr. Alexander: Together with our European partners, we regularly raise our concerns about the situation in Papua. On 28 October EU ministerial representatives visited Indonesia and met with the newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hasan Wirayuda. Both expressed their belief that the full implementation of special autonomy would help resolve the problems in Papua. In his inaugural speech on 20 October, President Yudhoyono identified the resolution of the problems in Papua as one of his key concerns.

Iran

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions
 
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he has had with the Iranian Government regarding the arrest of Ms Mahboobeh Abbasgholizadeh on 1 November. [198779]

Mr. Rammell: Official Iranian media have recently reported the arrest of several journalists and NGO staff, including Ms Mahboobeh Abbasgholizadeh. We have serious concerns about the increasing harassment of journalists and NGO staff in Iran. With our full support, the EU Presidency intends to raise the issue with the Iranian authorities soon.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provisions for verification are contained in the draft agreement between the Governments of the USA, France, Germany and the United Kingdom with the Government of Iran. [197952]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 16 November 2004]: The agreement between the Governments of France, Germany and the UK, with the support of the High Representative of the European Union, on the one hand, and the Government of Iran, on the other, was published on 15 November. It commits Iran to suspend work on the enrichment of uranium and on the reprocessing of nuclear fuel; to meet all its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to allow full and unrestricted access by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to its nuclear facilities in accordance with its nuclear safeguards agreement with the Agency. This latter requirement will enable independent verification of the extent of Iran's nuclear activities.

The Government of the United States is not a party to the agreement.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date his Department (a) completed its analysis of Iraq's declaration to the United Nations of December 2002 and (b) communicated to the UN its view that there were omissions in the declaration; what omissions were indicated; whether such omissions are considered to be the case now; and if he will make a statement. [190229]

Mr. MacShane: The analysis of the text of the Iraqi declaration was completed on 21 December 2002 and our observations on the declaration were passed to the United Nations at that time. The declaration was compared against previous declarations made by Iraq, and against the outstanding disarmament questions raised by the final report of UNSCOM, produced in 1999. Any discrepancies uncovered in this process were indicated to the United Nations. The Government continues to believe that there were omissions in the Iraqi declaration, and this has been borne out by reports from UNMOVIC at the time of the resumption of inspections in 2002–03 and, subsequently by the Iraq Survey Group.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the new Iraqi constitution. [198753]

 
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Mr. Rammell: According to the Transitional Administrative Law, the Transitional National Assembly, which will be elected in January next year, shall write a draft of the permanent constitution by no later than 15 August 2005. UN Security Council Resolution 1546 envisages a leading role for the UN in promoting national discussion and consensus building on the drafts of the constitution. The draft shall be presented to the Iraqi people for approval in a general referendum to be held no later than 15 October 2005. The general referendum will be successful and the draft constitution ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve and if two-thirds of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the US authorities in Iraq to provide immediate assistance to the International Committee of the Red Cross to enable it to have full and free access to Falluja. [199136]

Mr. Rammell: The Iraqi Interim Government are in the lead in improving the humanitarian situation in Fallujah. We understand that the Iraq Ministry of Health, supported by the Multi-National Force, is currently doing all it can to facilitate Red Cross and Red Crescent assistance to Falluja and the surrounding areas.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 756W, on the Iraq Survey Group, if he will list the source references for the material now made public to which the Prime Minister referred on 28 January 2004, Official Report, column 304, as unpublished pending the Iraq Survey Group report. [197045]

Mr. MacShane: All the relevant information was submitted either to the Iraq Survey Group or to the Butler review or, in some cases, to both. Their respective reports published as much information as it was possible to do without prejudice to national security.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the interim Government of Iraq about attacks on Iraqi Christians and their places of worship; and if he will make a statement. [197754]

Mr. Rammell: British officials in Iraq regularly meet with members of the Christian communities. We have raised concerns about attacks by extremists on Iraqi Christians and their places of worship with the Iraqi authorities, who, I should stress, share our concerns and remain committed to the protection of minorities as set out in the Transitional Administrative Law. Our missions in Iraq will continue to monitor the situation and make representations as appropriate.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2004, Official Report, column 520W, on Iraq, on the basis of what criteria the Government decided whether to share the intelligence on the claim that Iraq sought to procure uranium from Africa with the (a) Iraq Survey Group and (b) Butler Committee. [198833]

 
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Mr. Straw: All relevant material was passed to the Butler review. In the case of the Iraq Survey Group, the normal rule applied which requires that information received from allied intelligence and security agencies cannot be disseminated further without the consent of the originator.

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