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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Coalition troops, broken down by country, (a) were in place on 10 April 2003 and (b) are currently in place outside Iraqi (i) museums, (ii) libraries, (iii) archives, (iv) monuments and (v) sites; and what proportion of total Coalition troops these figures represent, broken down by country. [110849] Mr. Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Whilst combat operations were underway, Coalition forces were not tasked to guard specific sites, as this would have meant that they would have presented themselves as targets, and prevented them from carrying out other high priority tasks. However, exceptions were made for key facilities, such as some hospitals. Coalition forces are now guarding some buildings such as Ministries and also the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. However, the preference is to conduct routine patrols that project an unpredictable presence over a wide area.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

110849; 406 c294W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Armed forces Cultural heritage Archives Archaeological sites Iraq Libraries Protection Museums and galleries Monuments

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk