Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Inge (Crossbench). It was answered on Wednesday, 19 October 2005.

Iraq: Withdrawal

Question: My Lords, the Minister said in his earlier statement that certain conditions had to be met. It may be an unfair question to ask him to give those conditions now, but I would welcome being informed of what they are. Is the Minister prepared to write to me?

Answer: My Lords, I am happy to answer the noble and gallant Lord’s question. The conditions to enable us to draw down from Iraq and to transfer responsibility for security to the Iraqi security forces are handled within the Iraqi Joint Committee to Transfer Security Responsibility. That committee has set out four broad categories. I shall briefly list them: assessment of the threat level posed by the insurgents; the ability of the Iraqi security forces to take on the task; the capacity of the provincial bodies to cope with the changed security environment; and the posture and support that the coalition forces are able to give.

Secondary information