Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Thank you for your letter of 24 June responding
to mine of 19 May and enclosing one from Mr Samer Muscati about
allegations of abuse by KBR managers at our Embassy in Baghdad.
As I said in my earlier letter, the FCO does
not tolerate sexual harassment or abuse, and we handle allegations
of any such conduct on our premises—even when FCO staff
are not directly involved—with the utmost seriousness.
I can understand the Committee's interest in
this case. There is however nothing more of any substance that
I can add to the account of FCO investigations into the KBR enquiry
that I detailed in my letter of 19 May. These allegations were
made by KBR staff against KBR staff. So this is essentially an
internal matter for KBR and questions on the detail of their enquiry
should properly be directed to them.
I stand by my conclusion that the FCO reacted
promptly and correctly to the initial allegations and to subsequent
concerns; that it was correct to ask KBR to take forward the investigation
using staff from outside Iraq; and that the investigation was
as thorough and professional as circumstances in Baghdad allowed.
David Miliband
23 July 2008
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