Written question asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 9 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 11 November 2005. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 November 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of how many private military contractors have been killed in Iraq since March 2003.

Answer: From our consular records, we are aware of at least 21 British nationals who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 while working as private military or security contractors. However, this figure is not definitive as our records do not as a formality include details of employers of those British nationals who die abroad. We are also aware of a number of private military and security contractors of other nationalities who have been killed in Iraq during this period. However, we are unable to provide any figures on these as we do not keep statistics on deaths of foreign nationals abroad.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 28405; 439 c1899W;439 c1900W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Armed forces Death Iraq Private sector Private military and security companies
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk