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Written question asked by Andrew Mackinlay (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 July 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 July 2008. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many allegations of misconduct have been made to his Department in respect of (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of other countries, other than Iraq, who are employees of private military or security companies contracted to work in Iraq by his Department; what the nature of each allegation is; what action his Department has taken in response; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

[holding answer 21 July 2008]: There has been one allegation of misconduct by the Iraqi authorities against a private military and security company contracted by the Government to work in Iraq. A complaint was made in February 2008 that a weapon was discharged from a vehicle owned by a private military and security company contracted by the Government. We carried out an investigation and established that this was a case of mistaken identity, as none of the company's vehicles were in the area at the time.The only other allegation of misconduct of which we are aware was made in December 2007, by a local employee of a private military and security company which we had contracted to support police training in Basra. This individual returned a quantity of surplus ammunition which he alleged had been sold to him improperly by two expatriate employees, one British and one Australian, of the same private military and security company. By the time the allegation was made the two individuals who were the subject of the allegation were no longer employed on the contract in Basra, which was in the process of being wound up, nor were they in the UK. We and the head office of the company concerned investigated, taking a formal statement from the local employee and also contacting the two employees who were the subject of the allegation. Taking into account the content of the individuals' statements and the absence of any independent evidence, we determined that there were no grounds for taking the matter further.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
220618; 479 c1120-1W
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Iraq Peacekeeping operations
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk