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Israel

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreignand Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Israeli authorities on behalf of Ziyad Hmeidan, being held under administrative detention. [62514]

Dr. Howells: We continue to monitor the situation with regard to all Palestinian prisoners held in administrative detention. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities. We have no plans to raise Ziyad Hmeidan's case with the Israeli authorities. Our ambassador in Tel Aviv last discussed the issue of Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli government on 22 March.
 
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) currently have access to Israeli prisons and detention centres in Israel and the West Bank. The ICRC monitors conditions in Israeli prisons on a regular basis.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the election of the Kadima party to power in Israel. [63424]

Dr. Howells: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said

I congratulate Ehud Olmert and the Kadima party on their election victory. Kadima's victory changes the shape of Israeli politics. It is an extraordinary personal achievement for Ehud Olmert. I look forward to meeting him soon to discuss his plans to take the peace process forward. I urge all parties to pursue a path of positive engagement as set out by the Quartet (EU, US, UN and Russia)".

Jericho Prison

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government had advance knowledge of the Israeli raid on Jericho prison following the withdrawal of the British Independent Monitors. [61000]

Dr. Howells: Israel had made clear that it would not allow the detainees involved in the assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minister, Rehevam Ze'evi, to go free. However, the Israeli authorities did not discuss the details of its operational plan with us. We also did not share the details of our withdrawal plan with the Israeli authorities. The first time the Israeli and the Palestinian authorities knew of the exact date of our withdrawal was on 14 March when we had withdrawn our monitors.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received in relation to the termination of the UK mission at Jericho Prison. [61001]

Dr. Howells: On 14 March, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary received representations from the Austrian Foreign Minister. My right hon. Friend theForeign Secretary explained that in the absence of the Palestinian Authority responding to our requests for increased security we had to withdraw our monitors to ensure their safety.

Kashmir

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the actions by Indian military personnel in Kashmir in relation to human rights of the population; and if he will make a statement. [62369]

Dr. Howells: The UK continues to be concerned by credible reports of human rights abuses in Indian-administered Kashmir, including by Indian security forces. We are aware of the incident in Handwara on 22 February 2006 in which four young Kashmiris were killed, allegedly by the Indian army. We note that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on 25 February 2006 that he was grieved by the incident and at the loss in innocent lives". He also said that he had asked the army to take remedial measures so that such incidents
 
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do not recur in the future". We understand that on 1 March 2006, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced a judicial probe into the killings.

The UK welcomes the continued reduction in hostility between Pakistan and India and applauds the two countries' shared commitment to the ongoing Composite Dialogue process, whose third round began on 17 January 2006. We remain in regular contact with both governments and we will continue to encourage India and Pakistan to continue to seek to resolve all of their outstanding issues, including over Kashmir. We believe that this process will advance the human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The UK deplores the continued militant violence in Indian-administered Kashmir. There can be no justification for those who seek to influence people through intimidation and brutality and we condemn all acts of violence that bring suffering to ordinary Kashmiris. We believe firmly that violence cannot bring about a solution to the Kashmir issue and we urge the militants to remove the gun from Kashmiri politics.

Landmines (Falklands)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the terms of reference are of the joint UK-Argentinean feasibility study into the eradication of landmines in the Falklands; and what the timetable is for the study. [63252]

Dr. Howells: In line with the 2001 UK-Argentina Joint Statement, we are currently working together on the terms of reference and scope of a joint feasibility study on de-mining the Falkland Islands. Once these are agreed, there will be a tendering process to select a contractor to carry out the study, which should take place between November 2006 and March 2007.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether Argentina broke the Geneva convention by laying landmines in the Falklands. [63253]

Dr. Howells: Argentina did not break any of the fourGeneva conventions by laying landmines in the Falkland Islands: there are no specific provisions regarding landmines in any of them.

Liberia

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to assist the Government of Nigeria in apprehending Charles Taylor, former Head of State of Liberia. [62816]

Ian Pearson: We are delighted that Charles Taylor has been arrested in Nigeria and transferred to the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The UK has been in close and regular touch with Nigeria and other international partners on the political and practical issues relating to Taylor's delivery to the court.

We are grateful for the efforts of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Nigerian President Obasanjo for their efforts in this regard.
 
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Mercosur

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Mercosur trade bloc on trade with (a) the EU and (b) the UK. [62153]

Dr. Howells: Discussions on EU-Mercosur trade in the context of the negotiations of the EU-Mercosur Regional Association Agreement, are conducted on behalf of the EU by the Commission. We have received no representations from the Mercosur group.

Mersey Police (Condoleeza Rice)

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reimburse Mersey police for the extra costs incurred by them for policing the visit to Liverpool of the United States Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. [63397]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: Ensuring appropriate levels of security for visiting VIP's is the responsibility of the Police Service and the Home Office takes overall responsibility for policing.

The costs of police resources fall to the Police Service concerned, in this case Merseyside police. However, there is a process through which Police Services may apply to the Home Office for a special grant to cover costs for events which are over and above routine policing.

Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment the Government have made of the military capacity of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organisation since May 2003. [62407]

Dr. Howells: The Mujahedin-e Khalq was proscribed in the UK in March 2001. The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review. It is established policy not to comment further on any information or intelligence we hold in relation to a specific group.

NATO Forum on Energy Security Technology

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation his Department had at the NATO forum on energy security technology held in Prague on 22 to 24 February; and if he will place in the Library copies of all presentations made which were relevant to United Kingdom energy security. [60619]

Mr. Straw: Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Ministry of Defence and the Home Office attended this conference, which was supported by the NATO Programme for Security through Science. Government officials did not make any presentations and the presentations made at the conference were not specific to the UK.

Further information about the NATO Forum on Energy Security Technology can be found at the event's website, www.energy-security.org. FCO officials are in contact with the conference organisers to discuss possible arrangements for access to presentations made
 
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at the conference, which are password protected and only available to conference participants. My officials will write to the hon. Member when the conference organisers have been able to establish whether speakers are happy for their presentations to be shared more widely and how this can best be done.

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