Written question asked by Michael Connarty (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 26 January 2007. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Monday, 5 February 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance and advice has been given to trade delegations by her Department wishing to go to (a) Iraq and (b) Iraqi Kurdistan to explore possible trade opportunities.

Answer: Until December 2006, we advised British citizens against all but essential travel to the three Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)-administered provinces in Iraq. This advice included visits by trade delegations. Our consulate-general in Kirkuk and a representative from our embassy in Baghdad, nevertheless, met those delegations who decided to visit the region. These have recently included British Expertise (2 to 5 September 2006) and Middle East Association (10 to 15 November 2006). Our travel advice for the KRG region changed in December 2006. The change will allow UK Trade and Investment to provide commercial advice and assistance in respect of the region in future, in liaison with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).We continue to advise against all travel to other parts of Iraq and have not been asked to give assistance or advice to UK trade delegations wishing to go elsewhere in the country. Details of our travel advice for Iraq can be found on the FCO website at:"www.fco.gov.uk/travel/iraq."

Secondary information