Written question asked by Harry Cohen (Labour) on Tuesday, 12 May 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 14 May 2009. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2009 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq: Oil

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Government of Iraq on (a) the return of monies held in escrow under the UN oil-for-food programme and not yet received and (b) the disbursement of international commitments for development aid; what estimate he has made of the sums due to the Iraqi Government in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The Government have not received any specific representations from the Government of Iraq (GoI) on the oil-for-food programme. However, the GoI has asked us to help it resolve outstanding UN resolutions relating to Iraq. We support the review of those UN Security Council Resolutions that are still in effect as part of the process to help Iraq normalise its relationship with the international community.We will continue to work with other members of the UN Security Council to resolve outstanding issues on the oil-for-food programme so that it can be concluded with the mutual agreement of all parties, including the Iraqi Government.We have not received any representations from the GoI on the disbursement of international development commitments. Any outstanding commitments from the international community regarding the disbursement of development funds are a matter for the GoI to address direct with donors.

Secondary information