Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 23 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 March 2006. It was answered by Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 April 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what his estimate is of the number of (a) Shia, (b) Kurdish and (c) Sunni non-state militia in Iraq;

Answer: There are a variety of estimates of the size of the various Iraqi militias. But both these, and the extent of their influence, are difficult to assess with any accuracy. Ethnic, religious and tribal loyalties are widespread within Iraqi society and part of the reform and democratisation process of Iraqi institutions is the removal from office of those individuals whose loyalties are fundamentally not to the state. The capability of the Iraqi interior and defence ministries, and of the Iraqi Security Forces, will be important factors in assessing the conditions that will enable the transfer of responsibility for security to the Iraqi civilian authorities.

Secondary information