Written question asked by Peter Kilfoyle (Labour) on Monday, 17 March 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 25 March 2003. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 March 2003 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times during the inspections in Iraq carried out prior to 1998 the Iraqi Government was recorded by the UN as non-cooperative, broken down by (a) minor delays and (b) actual inspection refusals. - Inc ref to the final report produced by Richard Butler in March 1999, which is available in the Library.

Answer: Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times during the inspections in Iraq carried out prior to 1998 the Iraqi Government was recorded by the UN as non- cooperative, broken down by (a) minor delays and (b) actual inspection refusals. [103972] Mr. Mike O'Brien: UNSCOM did not routinely report all instances of Iraqi non-cooperation. Only the more serious cases were formally reported. They did, however, regularly report that they were not receiving full cooperation from Iraq. Their regular reports to the UN Security Council and, more particularly, the final report produced by Richard Butler in March 1999, which is available in the House of Commons Library, show a systematic effort to frustrate inspectors throughout the 1990s.

Secondary information