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EU Accounts

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he took during the Presidency of the EU to try to ensure that its accounts were approved by the EU auditors. [56675]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: It was disappointing that the European Court of Auditors (EGA) was unable last November to give a positive Statement of Assurance on the EC Budget for 2004. It is encouraging, however, that there have been noticeable improvements since 2003 with pre-accession expenditure once again being cleared, as it was in 2002, and, for the first time, certain areas of agricultural expenditure also gaining clearance. This has meant that around 35 per cent. of EC Budget expenditure was cleared in 2004 compared with only 6 per cent. in 2003. Much of the European Court of Auditors' difficulty in giving a positive assurance on the EU budget payments as a whole arises in the budget sector managed by the member states, who are responsible for 80 per cent. of spending under the EU budget. That is why, during our Presidency, we encouraged member states to take on a greater share of the responsibility for signing off the accounts. We succeeded in securing an agreement that will contribute to bringing about a step change in the EU's financial management and control at a meeting of EU Economic and Finance Ministers on 8 November 2005. We hope that, over time, implementation of the action points in these conclusions will enable the EGA to give positive Statements of Assurance to the EC Budget in future years.

Guantanamo Bay

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what visits to Guantanamo Bay have been made by UK officials since 2001, broken down by (a) Government Department or agency and (b) the date of the visit. [55318]

 
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Dr. Howells: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials made nine visits to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, between January 2002 and October 2004, to check on the British detainees' welfare. These visits took place on the following dates: January, February, May and November 2002; April and September 2003; March, July and October 2004. An FCO official accompanied five British detainees back to the UK at the end of the March 2004 visit. An FCO official also visited Guantanamo Bay in January 2005 to accompany the last four British detainees back to the UK.

UK officials have visited Guantanamo Bay to ask detainees about matters relating to the UK's national security. An account of the intelligence and security agencies' contact with detainees at Guantanamo Bay is set out in the Intelligence and Security Committee's 2005 report, The Handling of Detainees by UK Intelligence Personnel in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq". This can be found on the ISC website at: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence.

Hajj Pilgrimage

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department provides to those on the Hajj pilgrimage. [41684]

Dr. Howells: Since 2000, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has worked in partnership with leading representatives of national Muslim organisations on the Hajj Advisory Group to organise the annual British Hajj Delegation (BHD). The FCO provides funding for the delegation which this year was approximately £85,000. The BHD is based in Mecca during the Hajj season and provides medical, pastoral and consular assistance to British Muslims at the Hajj. Lord Patel of Blackburn has led the BHD for the last six years. For the most recent Hajj in January 2006, the BHD included 10 volunteers (nine doctors who run a medical clinic and one counsellor) and two members of staff from our consulate-general in Jeddah enabling the FCO to give consular assistance on the ground. This was particularly vital this year following the stampede at Mina which involved the deaths of three British nationals. The medical clinic also operated over a 15-day period during which the doctors assisted over 7,000 of the estimated 25,000 British pilgrims taking part in the Hajj.

Human Trafficking

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with other European Union countries about the trafficking of women for (a) prostitution and (b) other work in the sex industry. [56008]

Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed these issues at the European Council meeting in December 2005, at which the European Action Plan on Trafficking in Human Beings was agreed.
 
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Iran

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his (a) EU and (b) Iranian counterparts on Iran's nuclear programme; and if he will make a statement on that programme. [54924]

Dr. Howells: EU Foreign Ministers discussed Iran's nuclear programme when they met on 27 February. They regretted Iran's decision to withhold co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); deplored Iran's resumption of enrichment-related activities; reaffirmed the EU's commitment to a diplomatic solution and called on Iran to reconsider its position on its nuclear issues activities and other areas of concern in order to avoid further deterioration of its relationship with the EU.

At Iranian request, Ministers and senior officials from the UK, France and Germany and the EU High Representative met the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Dr. Ali Larijani, on 3 March. The aim of the E3/EU in agreeing to the meeting was to enable them to listen to what Dr. Larijani had to say about Iran's response to the resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors on 4 February. The resolution deemed it necessary that, among other things, Iran should re-establish a full and sustained suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the Agency. Regrettably, Dr. Larijani was not prepared to undertake that Iran would meet the IAEA Board's requests.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will review the proscribed status of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran; and if he will make a statement. [55748]

Dr. Howells: The Mojahadin-e Khalq was proscribed in the UK in March 2001.

My right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary decided to proscribe this group because it met the criteria under the terrorism legislation. This decision was endorsed by Parliament.

The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review. Under section 4(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 an organisation or affected person may apply to the Home Secretary for an organisation to be deproscribed.

Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Iran has made to the EU3 regarding the supply of conventional weapons to Iran; and if he will make a statement. [56113]

Dr. Howells: Between December 2004 and August 2005, the E3/EU held talks with Iran under the Paris Agreement. These covered possible long-term arrangements for Iran's nuclear programme and other areas of mutual interest. During the course of these negotiations, Iran expressed concern about European export licence decisions. In August 2005, the E3/EU proposed a framework for a long-term agreement covering Iran's nuclear programme and other political, economic and technological issues. In these proposals, the E3/EU expressed their willingness to take part in a
 
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joint export control workshop in Tehran, which would allow for exchanges on the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 and national/EC laws. Iran rejected the E3/EU proposals without serious consideration. A few days later Iran resumed uranium conversion activities in violation of the Paris Agreement, since when there have been no further negotiations under the Paris Agreement.

The UK's national embargo on Iran was introduced in 1993, amended in 1998, and covers all goods and technology on the Military List as well as items entered in Group O (Nuclear List) in Annex 1 of the European Council Regulation (EC) 1334/2000 on the export of dual-use items and technology. There are two exceptions to this embargo, namely (i) goods essential for the safety of civil aircraft and air traffic control systems; and (ii) radioactive material in the form of sources for medical equipment and deuterium labelled compounds for medical use.

Iraq

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of civilians who have been killed in Iraq in each month since January 2005. [56735]

Dr. Howells: We believe that the Iraqi Government are best placed to monitor the deaths of their own civilians. The Iraqi Ministry of Health published figures last year which show that there were 6,629 Iraqi deaths and 23,838 wounded between April 2004 and April 2005. The Iraqi Government have not yet published comprehensive figures for the period beyond April 2005.

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