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Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 29 November 2004, with regard to Mr. Sohail Khalil Dar. [209855]

Mr. Mullin: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Rammell) replied today.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated (a) 8 December 2004 with regard to Mr. Majid Ali, (b) 29 November 2004 with regard to Mr. Z. Ali, (c) 15 November 2004 with regard to Gamul Alam and (d) 9 November 2004 with regard to S. Hameed. [209858]

Mr. Mullin: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Rammell) replied to (a) today. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied to (b) on 17 January 2005, (c) on 7 December 2004 and (d) on 20 December 2004.

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 5 December 2004 from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East concerning Mrs. Musthasina Begum, wife of Mr. D. Miah, reference 77853. [211200]

Mr. Alexander: The hon. Member's letter was forwarded to UKvisas, the Department responsible for entry clearance matters arising overseas, on 9 December for reply. A reply was sent on 25 January.

Diplomatic Bags

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the application of the Vienna Convention to the operation of the diplomatic bag service. [211303]

Mr. Alexander: Our diplomatic bag and its transit complies with Article 27 of the Vienna Convention. We have diplomatic service procedures in place to ensure compliance of the convention. These procedures are regularly reviewed in consultation with our legal, protocol and security advisers.

Equatorial Guinea

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) the UK Government and (b) UK banks are assisting the government of Equatorial Guinea with its investigation into the alleged coup attempt. [210072]

Mr. Mullin: The Equatorial Guinean Government have sought assistance from the British Government in relation to their investigations following the alleged attempted coup in March 2004. We have made clear that
 
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within the framework of UK law we will offer every assistance to help them bring to justice those who may have sought to overthrow a sovereign government. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has acted as a channel of communication between the Equatorial Guinean government and the Home Office in respect of the request for mutual legal assistance. It is now for the Police and Crown Prosecution Service, on the basis of evidence provided, to decide whether to launch a domestic investigation and/or prosecution.

The British Government are not in a position to answer on behalf of private institutions.

Eritrea

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by what benchmarks he measures progress in human rights dialogue with the Eritrea Government. [209704]

Mr. Mullin: We assess human rights dialogue with Eritrea, in partnership with EU colleagues, on a regular basis against the terms of the Cotonou Agreement.

Freedom of Information

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what categories of information are available under Freedom of Information legislation that have not been provided in written parliamentary answers by his Department in the last three years. [207830]

Mr. Straw: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Leslie) gave him on 24 January 2005, Official Report, column 140W.

Georgia

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Georgia concerning (a) attacks upon Baptist church buildings, including two attacks upon the church in the village of Kuchatani in October and December 2004, (b) threats to and intimidation of members of minority religious denominations in Georgia, including Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans and Catholics, (c) the Government's stance on according legal status to faiths other than the Georgian Orthodox Church and (d) permission for religious groups to build non-Orthodox places of worship. [211458]

Mr. Alexander: Our embassy in Tbilisi maintain a close interest in issues relating to freedom of religion in Georgia. We are aware that a draft amendment to the law has been submitted to enable the registration of non-orthodox faiths and that the Liberty Institute has lodged a suit with the Constitutional Court to remove the article in the existing law which prohibits the registration of non-orthodox faiths. We will continue toclosely monitor the situation and keep in close touchwith our EU, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Council of Europe partners.
 
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Parliamentary Questions

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) when he will reply substantively to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock for named day answer on 16 December 2004, question 205526; [209187]

(2) when he will reply to question 205526, tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock on 13 December 2004; what the reasons for the delay in replying are; and if he will make a statement. [211201]

Mr. Rammell: I apologise for the delay in replying, this is due in part to the need to consult a large number of overseas missions and partly due to errors by officials. I will reply shortly.

Proof of Death

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the review of the criteria necessary for proof of death abroad in exceptional circumstances following the Asian tsunami disaster will apply also to victims of other disasters. [210102]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 24 January 2005]: The Government are carrying out a review of the response to the Asian tsunami disaster, to identify lessons that we can learn for dealing with other disasters. It would be wrong to pre-judge the conclusions of that review.

Sudan

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in Sudan. [210585]

Mr. Mullin: We welcome the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9 January. This offers the prospect of ending Africa's longest running civil war, and can pave the way for peace in the whole of Sudan, including Darfur. A challenging period of implementation, including drafting a new constitution and forming a government of national unity, now faces the parties. We stand ready to support them in doing so. The United Nations is currently preparing for the deployment of a Peace Support Operation in support of the CPA.

Peace talks between the Government of Sudan and the rebels in Darfur are expected to resume in Abuja in the next few weeks. We will continue to press both sides to engage in good faith to find a lasting solution to the conflict in Darfur.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Sudanese authorities on the reports of a combined attack by the Government of Sudan airforce and the Janjaweed militas upon the village of Hamada, in Southern Darfur, on 16 January. [211457]

Mr. Alexander: We have repeatedly made clear to the Government of Sudan and the rebels that they must respect the ceasefire and abide by the Abuja Protocols, including the Government's commitment to refrain from military overflights of Darfur.
 
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The African Union is currently investigating the alleged Arab militia attack on the village of Hamadah. We await the result of its investigation.

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