Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Team, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, 15 March 2005
Thank you for your letter of 11 March, with
questions about Iraq and North Africa. Our answers are as follows:
What steps has the United Kingdom taken to engage
with Iran and Syria on their role in relation to Iraq, and with
what results?
The UK continues to discuss Iraq with its neighbours,
including Syria and Iran. We have repeatedly stressed to both
countries the need for a peaceful, prosperous and secure Iraq
able to determine its own future through the ballot box.
The Foreign Secretary met Hassan Rouhani, Secretary
General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council on 13
December 2004 and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director-General
John Sawers met Foreign Minister Kharrazi and other senior figures
in Iran's Government on 2 February 2005. In all those meetings
Iraq was discussed. The Foreign Secretary raised Iraq with Syrian
Foreign Minister Shara'a in October 2004. Our ambassadors in Damascus
and Tehran raise the issue of Iraq on a regular basis.
We continue to underline the importance we attach
to ending Syrian support for the insurgency. To this end, we welcome
the steps Syria has taken to prevent infiltration across its border.
But Syria remains the main point of entry for jihadists aiming
to reach Iraq, and the Syrians could do more to tackle this. Likewise
Syria could do more to stop jihadist groups and individuals operating
inside Syria who facilitate the training and the transfer of insurgents
to Iraq. We welcome the handing over by Syria of Saddam Hussein's
half brother Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, but there are other insurgency
leaders who the Syrian regime continues to harbour (Iraq has passed
details of individuals it wants to see action on to the Syrians).
It is in neither the Syrian or Arab world's interests that Iraq
is subject to continuing violence.
What steps has the United Kingdom and the international
community taken to prevent a serious escalation in tension in
Kirkuk?
We have a British Embassy Office in the North
of Iraq located in Kirkuk to represent UK interests in northern
Iraq. One of its roles is to facilitate dialogue among the different
communities and to help develop constructive ideas to build inclusive
political institutions in this most ethnically diverse part of
the country.
Our staff in Kirkuk regularly lobby Kurdish
and other political leaders through meetings with local religious,
political and business groups. The message that political participation
has to include all groups has frequently been delivered via the
British Office. Frequent access to key Kurdish leaders such as
Barzani and Talabani has enabled us to convey the message that
this has to be reflected in the final constitutional settlement.
We supported the creation of an IDP Committee
in Kirkuk and are now encouraging the establishment of an Iraqi-led
Kirkuk Article 58 Committee (relating to Article 58 of the TAL
which focuses on Kirkuk) to take forward decisions on the status
of Kirkuk. Both the British Ambassador and the US Ambassador sent
letters to the Kurdish leaders noting support for implementation
of the TAL and particularly Article 58.
Prior to the elections the British Office in
co-operation with the US office successfully persuaded the Kurds
not to boycott the Kirkuk elections. Our Consul General monitored
the elections closely, visiting a number of polling stations in
and around Kirkuk.
The Global Conflict Prevention Pool is a potential
source of funding to support Kirkuk's conflict prevention efforts.
It has already provided £38,000 to support the creation of
an Independent Media Resource Centre in Kirkuk, led by an ethnically
mixed Media Commission.
Has the United Kingdom provided Turkey with assurances
over the territorial integrity of Iraq?
We have a regular dialogue with Turkey and all
of Iraq's neighbours on a bilateral basis and through the Sharm
El-Sheikh process. The UK has reaffirmed the imperative of the
territorial integrity of Iraq on many occasions, including in
its support for UNSCR 1546.
What progress has been made towards a memorandum
of understanding to allow extradition from the United Kingdom
to countries in the Maghreb?
We have had discussions with a number of countries
at both Ministerial and official level. The negotiations are inevitably
complex, but are now moving into a more detailed phase.
Chris Stanton
Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Team,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
15 March 2005
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