Written question asked by Lord Tyrie (Conservative) on Wednesday, 19 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 February 2005. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 February 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of people killed in Iraq between 20th March 2003 and 4th April 2004, including Iraqis, coalition forces and other nationalities; and what sources he has used in calculating this figure. - Inc ref to 17 November 2004, 426 c92-5WS and 27 January 2005, 430 c541W and figures for service personnel.

Answer: Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people killed in Iraq between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004, including Iraqis, coalition forces and other nationalities; and what sources he has used in calculating this figure. [210527] Mr. Rammell: We have no way of reliably estimating the total number of Iraqi civilians killed between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on this subject of 17 November 2004, Official Report, columns 92-95WS and the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Armed Forces (Mr. Caplin) on 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 541W to the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (Mr. Simpson). We understand from the Ministry of Defence that the number of UK service personnel killed between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004 is 59. The Ministry of Defence state that they do not keep records of Multi-National or coalition forces killed in Iraq. However, they say that open sources show that 721 Multi-National or coalition forces, including UK service personnel, were killed during that period.

Secondary information