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China

18. Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions on human rights he has had with the Government of China. [218411]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised human rights issues in his meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in Beijing on 21 January. He encouraged China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), called for progress in the reform of China's re-education through Labour system and lobbied on behalf of several individual cases of concern.

European Constitution

19. Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of ratification of the proposed Constitutional Treaty for the European Union. [218412]

Mr. MacShane: Each member state will ratify the Treaty according to their own constitutional procedures. Three member states, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovenia, have already ratified the proposed Constitutional Treaty. Spain approved the Treaty in its referendum on 20 February. A referendum will be held in the Netherlands on 1 June. In the UK, the EU Bill was introduced on 25 January and had its Second Reading on 9 February.

Sudan

20. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on UK relations with Sudan. [218413]

Mr. Mullin: The UK has full diplomatic relations with Sudan. The Government regularly meets leaders of the major political parties and was heavily involved in negotiations of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed on 9 January 2005. We are committed to helping the parties implement the agreement. We continue to press strongly the Government of Sudan and the rebels to resolve the conflict in Darfur peacefully, within the framework of the CPA.

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) European Union and (b) African Union counterparts on how to ensure the safety of aid workers in Sudan. [205907]

Mr. Mullin: I would like to apologise for the delay in replying.
 
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We are greatly concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Darfur and deplore the recent deaths of the Save the Children UK and Me"decins Sans Frontières aid workers.

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to the African Union (AU) Chairman, President Obasanjo on 22 December. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development and I met, separately, with AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Said Djinnet, in London on 21 December. We are working with the AU, both bilaterally and through the EU, to improve security in Darfur for aid workers and the civilian population.

We also regularly raise the issue of security, and the resultant effects on the delivery of humanitarian assistance, with EU partners. The Foreign Secretary last discussed this issue with EU counterparts at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 13 December.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Sudanese Government on clemency in the case of Nagune Idin Abdallah, who is sentenced to death. [219335]

Mr. Mullin: We regularly press the Sudanese Government to abolish the death penalty. We discussed Mr. Abdallah's case at the joint Sudan-EU human rights dialogue meeting on 24 February 2005, during which the Government agreed to provide further information on his case. We will continue to pursue this and other such cases in Sudan through our embassy in Khartoum.

Iraq

21. Ms Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the establishment and growth of local women's organisations in Iraq. [218414]

Mr. Rammell: Since the fall of Saddam regime, more than 1,500 non-governmental organisations including women's groups have registered with the Iraqi Government. Following a Department for International Development study in 2004, DFID has supported projects encouraging Iraqi women to vote, and to increase their awareness of the political process as well as fostering partnerships between international women's organisations and national women's groups.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on investigations being undertaken by OLAF concerning illegal exports to Iraq indicating (a) what types of material are subject to investigation, (b) what the country of origin was of each type of material, (c) what the nationality is of those persons under investigation and (d) what the dates were of the alleged incidents; what the nature is of UK participation in the inquiries; and what involvement Communities staff have had in the inquiries. [216065]

Mr. MacShane: We are not aware of any investigations currently being undertaken by OLAF concerning illegal exports to Iraq.
 
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Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what investigations were held following the loss of nuclear material held by Iraq after the first Gulf War; and if he will make a statement. [217706]

Mr. MacShane: Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted thorough investigations into Iraq's nuclear weapons programme and made a full inventory of Iraq's known holdings of nuclear material in the 1990s. They reported to the UN regularly on their activities.

Following reports of looting in the aftermath of the recent conflict, IAEA inspectors conducted an inventory check in June 2003, and reported that, although some uranium compounds could have been dispersed, they were not of a quantity or type sensitive from a proliferation point of view.

Subsequently, as part of their regular inspections under Iraq's nuclear safeguards agreement, IAEA inspectors visited the al-Tuwaitha site in August 2004, on which occasion they confirmed that no nuclear materials subject to IAEA safeguards were unaccounted for.

Reports received in October 2004 concerning the disappearance of large amounts of high explosives and other dual-use materials are being investigated by the Iraq Survey Group. No nuclear material is reported as missing. We expect them to publish a report on their findings shortly as an addendum to their October 2004 comprehensive report.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what grounds the Government have refused to publish the letters of Dr.Rod Barton of the Iraq Survey Group concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [218175]

Mr. MacShane: The Government have not received any formal request to publish Dr. Barton's letters.

United States

22. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed nuclear proliferation with his US counterparts. [218415]

Mr. MacShane: Nuclear proliferation is an issue that is always on the agenda for discussions with my US counterparts, and was last discussed during the visit of Dr. Condoleeza Rice on 4 February.

Libya

23. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations with Libya. [218416]

Mr. Rammell: Libya's decisions to formally accept responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, renounce terrorism and take action to dismantle its Weapons of Mass Destruction development programmes have been important and welcome developments.

We are developing further our political, cultural and commercial ties, while continuing to seek progress on the issues of difference that remain between us.
 
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China (Military Technology)

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assurances he gave to US Senator Lugar regarding EU restrictions on arms sales to prevent sensitive US technologies being diverted to China. [218387]

Mr. Rammell [holding answer 28 February 2005]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Senator Lugar, in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during his visit to Washington on 24 January. They briefly discussed the EU's controls on arms exports to China.

With regard to the ongoing review of the EU's arms embargo on China, the Foreign Secretary noted the conclusion reached at the European Council in December 2004 That

the result of any decision should not be an increase of arms exports from EU Member States to China, either in quantative nor in qualitative terms".

As the Foreign Secretary told the Committee on Strategic Export Controls on 12 January, the US has a legitimate and understandable interest both in the effectiveness of the EU's system of arms control and in the stability of the East Asian region. The review of the EU Arms Embargo, and any decisions arising from it are, of course, for the EU alone. But the EU will take all relevant factors into account.

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