Written question asked by Robert Marshall-Andrews (Labour) on Friday, 18 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 25 February 2005. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Friday, 25 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, pursuant to his oral statement of 31 January 2005. 430 c584, what the serious methodological difficulties are in relation to the figures of Iraqi casualties provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Health; whether these figures contain any attribution of the number of Iraqi deaths and injuries that have resulted from the actions of (a) multinational forces, (b) Iraqi security forces and (c) terrorists and insurgents; and whether the figures specify the number of Iraqi non-combatants who have been killed or injured by the actions of these three groups.

Answer: Mr. Marshall-Andrews: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his oral statement of 31 January 2005, Official Report, column 584, what the serious methodological difficulties are in relation to the figures of Iraqi casualties provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Health; whether these figures contain any attribution of the number of Iraqi deaths and injuries that have resulted from the actions of (a) multinational forces, (b) Iraqi security forces and (c) terrorists and insurgents; and whether the figures specify the number of Iraqi non-combatants who have been killed or injured by the actions of these three groups. [217442] Mr. Rammell: The Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH) released a statement on 28 January 2005, which explained that in its figures, collated from some 180 hospitals: "Casualties of car bombs and other clearly identifiable terrorist attacks are recorded as being caused by terrorist incidents. All other casualties are recorded as military action. The casualties may include insurgents, civilians as well as Iraqi police who are treated in MOH hospitals. The casualties may have been killed or injured by terrorist or coalition forces. Coalition forces include Iraqi police, Iraqi security forces, and the Multi- National forces".

Secondary information