Written question asked by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 November 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 November 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information has been provided to the World Health Organisation on the location of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq in (a) 1991 and (b) since March 2003.

Answer: The Ministry of Defence is committed to making available information on the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions both in the UK and abroad. I am not aware of any enquiries from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the location of DU munitions in Iraq. However, information is available in the public domain and has been provided to other agencies of the United Nations (UN), such as the UN Environment Programme.The UN has been given information on the weight of DU expended by UK forces in 2003 and on the geographical locations of the firings. They have also been given a report of the findings of an environmental monitoring survey undertaken by my Officials in Iraq in June 2003. This survey found only very low levels of DU contamination close to the points where DU munitions had impacted. No contamination was detectable in the wider environment even when the most sensitive analytical techniques were used; the contamination was not considered to present a health risk. This information was presented to a group of Iraqi and UN scientists at a meeting in June 2005. A representative from the WHO was present at this meeting.In addition, the Ministry of Defence has published information on the very limited use of 120 mm DU munitions by UK units during the 1990/1991 Gulf conflict.

Secondary information