Written question asked by Bill Tynan (Labour) on Thursday, 15 May 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 24 June 2003. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 June 2003 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many persons (a) with knowledge of the Iraqi short or medium range missile programmes, (b) who have been involved with such programmes and (c) who were in command positions with units possessing such missiles during the recent conflict have been (i) detained for questioning and (ii) held as prisoners of war by (A) the United Kingdom and (B) other Coalition forces.

Answer: Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many persons (a) with knowledge of the Iraqi short or medium range missile programmes, (b) who have been involved with such programmes and (c) who were in command positions with units possessing such missiles during the recent conflict have been (i) detained for questioning and (ii) held as prisoners of war by (A) the United Kingdom and (B) other Coalition forces. [114934] Mr. Ingram: Coalition forces are currently investigating Iraq's programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction, including ballistic missiles with proscribed ranges. These investigations will include debriefing of Iraqi prisoners of war, interviews with senior regime figures and information from other Iraqi military and civilian sources. The breath of such contacts means that it is not possible to quantify the numbers of interviews on this subject to date. At the appropriate time, we will make the evidence public.

Secondary information