Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Jim Cousins (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 14 November 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: I welcome the way in which my right hon. Friend has responded to President Talabani's initiative, but it clearly pointed to a withdrawal by the end of next year and my right hon. Friend has just said that it will begin by the end of next year. When the Iraqi security forces are in possession of heavy weapons—mortars, artillery, tanks and so on—is my right hon. Friend concerned that such material might fall into the hands of political militias that are active in the area?

Answer: I am afraid that my hon. Friend is wrong. President Talabani referred to an agreement by the end of next year on the withdrawal of forces. He talked of starting the process by the end of next year, so his words are consistent with what I have said previously. He also went out of his way to say—and I want the House to know exactly what we are saying—that that is not a commitment, but it is his estimate of when conditions for handover to the Iraqi forces might or could prevail. That is exactly what the Chief of the General Staff said yesterday and what I have said. In short, we are not saying that there will be an immediate withdrawal, which would—in President Talabani's words—be a catastrophe. We are not saying that there is an immutable timetable, nor are we saying that all our troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2006. It is important that the House understands what I am saying, which is that, as we build up the Iraqi forces, the process of handover could start in some parts of Iraq—including in our area—by the end of 2006.

Secondary information