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20 Jun 2005 : Column 747W—continued

Malaysia

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects UK veterans of the campaign in Malaysia between 1957 and 1966 to be able to receive the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal awarded by the present Malaysian administration to all Commonwealth veterans of that campaign. [5000]

Mr. Straw: In the light of the Malaysian Government's request to present the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal to British citizens, I have asked for certain principles of the Government's rules governing the accepting and wearing of foreign awards to be reviewed. The timing of an announcement on whether the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal may be presented will depend on the review, which I hope will be conducted quickly.

Murder Trial (Spain)

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Spanish authorities on the date for commencement of the trial of the two Venezuelan nationals accused of the murder of the constituents of the hon. Member for Clwyd, South, Tony and Linda O'Malley, in March 2003; and if he will make a statement. [4981]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: We continue to take a close and active interest in the case of Mr. and Mrs. O'Malley's murder. This has included high-level representations at an early stage in the investigation. My right hon. Friend
 
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the Foreign Secretary asked the Spanish Foreign Minister, Ana Palcio, on 9 April 2003 to ensure that DNA samples relating to the murder could be tested as soon as possible. My hon. Friend the former Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Affairs (Mr. MacShane) also raised the issues of the speeding up of forensic testing and repatriation of the deceased with the Spanish Minister for Europe, Ramo"n de Miguel on 6 June 2003.

Spanish legal proceedings against the two Venezuelans accused of the murder are now under way. These differ significantly from a trial in the UK system. Since the proceedings began, we have not made representations to the Spanish authorities on any aspect of the case, as, under international law, we are unable to interfere in the judicial process of other countries. Our own judicial proceedings are similarly protected.

Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who the UK representatives at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference were; and what assessment he has made of the conference outcome. [5754]

Dr. Howells: Full details of the UK Delegation can be found on the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) website at: www.un.org/events/npt2005.

The Review Conference was not able to agree a substantive final document as the UK would have preferred. But it was able to discuss ways to address threats to the non-proliferation regime. The UK will be pursuing these ideas in appropriate fora over the coming months.

North Korea

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the nuclear weapons capability of North Korea; and if he will make a statement. [4980]

Ian Pearson: The Government have, for some time, had serious concerns about the nuclear programme and nuclear weapons ambitions of the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). We take every opportunity to raise these concerns in our dealings with the DPRK Government.

The Government assess that the DPRK extracted sufficient plutonium in the early 1990s for up to two nuclear warheads and that it has the technical capability to weaponise this material. Since then, the DPRK claims to have extracted enough plutonium from its stock of fuel rods to manufacture several additional nuclear warheads. We also believe the DPRK is pursuing efforts towards production of highly enriched uranium.

We call on the Government of North Korea to reconfirm its commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and to re-engage in discussions with the other participants of the 6 Party Talks process to achieve their objective peacefully through negotiation. We also continue to be gravely concerned about the
 
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human rights situation in North Korea and raise this regularly with the DPRK authorities at ministerial and official level.

Operation Bracknell

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that all costs incurred by Sussex police in respect of Operation Bracknell in relation to the South East Asian tsunami are reimbursed. [5882]

Ian Pearson: The Sussex police have submitted a bill for Operation Bracknell costs incurred up to 31 March 2005. This bill, together with bills from police forces submitted in recent days, is being checked to see that it has been prepared in accordance with agreed guidelines. Appropriate costs will be reimbursed in July. A working group has been set up to consider what costs will be reimbursed for the period from 1 April.

Second World War

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which heads of Government have accepted invitations to attend UK commemorative events for the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. [5357]

Mr. Straw: There will be a series of public events in the UK to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, which will culminate in a Day of National Commemoration on Sunday 10 July. This event is conceived principally as a national event for UK veterans, and not as an inter-governmental occasion. A decision was therefore taken not to invite Heads of Government but to invite all Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited to the UK, as well as the UK representatives of the Overseas Territories. The only Head of Government who is attending the events on this day is my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

Torture

Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 133W, on British detainees (torture allegations), (1) how many times in each of the last five years cases in which his Department has requested an impartial investigation by the relevant national authorities into allegations of the torture or ill-treatment of British citizens detained abroad have been drawn to the attention of Ministers; [5232]

(2) how many times in each of the last five years cases in which the Department has raised concerns about the torture or ill-treatment of British citizens detained abroad with the relevant national authorities have been drawn to the attention of the Minister. [5233]

Dr. Howells: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers are updated on a fortnightly basis on significant consular cases within their areas of responsibility. These updates would normally include
 
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information about any action taken on behalf of British nationals in detention overseas who have made allegations of mistreatment and Ministers take a close interest in these cases. Specific details on such cases are kept on individual case files only and it would therefore incur disproportionate cost to undertake the research necessary to provide exact figures.

UKvisas

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which organisations he hasidentified as competitors to UKvisas; and whether they are required to meet public service agreement targets. [4767]

Dr. Howells: UKvisas is a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office Government Department responsible for administrating the UK immigration control overseas through the issue of entry clearance.

Under the FCO public service agreement (PSA) UKvisas aims to provide an effective and efficient entry clearance service as measured by specific underlying targets. The UKvisas annual report for 2004 available on the UKvisas website, www.ukvisas.gov.uk, gives details of performance against targets.

The UKvisas business plan available on the same website, details the specific underlying PSA targets for 2005–06. We review and compare our performance with that of other visa operations such as those of the USA, Australia and Schengen countries. Each may be subject to various performance-monitoring regimes by their governments.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his reply of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 137W, on Iraq, if he will write to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr once his inquiries with the United States Government are completed. [5657]

Dr. Howells: I confirm that a letter will be sent once a reply from the relevant US Government officials has been received.

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