Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Keith Simpson (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 1 May 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq

Question: Following on from what has been said about the tens of thousands of people who are now leaving Iraq and the internal conflict there, what prospect does the Minister think there is of the Iraqi Government hanging together in the near future given the enormous strains that are now on both Sunni and Shi’a members of that Government? What pressure can the British Government bring to bear on the Iraqi Government to take this matter forward? If it is not taken forward, there will be a complete collapse of political credibility in Iraq.

Answer: The hon. Gentleman is right: this is about political credibility and national reconciliation, and about how that Government can become more inclusive—how they can represent not only Shi’as but Sunnis, and also Assyrian Christians, Kurds and everyone else who makes up that huge nation. I believe that that can be done. In the constitutional review that is under way in Iraq there will have to be imaginative thinking about, perhaps, forms of devolution and about trying to understand how it might be possible to reconcile the different pressures that there are in Iraq at present. That can be done, and in recent weeks Prime Minister Maliki has expressed a desire to do just that—to make the Iraqi Government a more inclusive Government who reach out to encompass all parts of society.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 459 c1353
Session: 2006-07
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Iraq Politics and government Refugees Internally displaced people Emigration
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk