Written question asked by David Davis (Conservative) on Wednesday, 27 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 November 2004. It was answered by Lord Blunkett (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 November 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British police officers have visited Iraq in an official capacity since the fall of Saddam Hussein; and what the purposes of the visits were. - Inc figures.

Answer: David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British police officers have visited Iraq in an official capacity since the fall of Saddam Hussein; and what the purposes of the visits were. [194962] Mr. Blunkett: A representative of the Association of Chief Police Officers has visited Iraq three times in a formal capacity: on two occasions regarding the deployment of UK civilian police and on one occasion with a senior UK military officer to advise on the development of the Iraqi security forces. There are currently 43 serving and one retired UK civilian police officers seconded to Iraq and working with the Iraqi Police Service in both Basra and Baghdad in an advisory, training and mentoring capacity. The officers are from forces in England and Wales, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Ministry of Defence Police. In addition to the 44 police officers currently working in Iraq a further nine officers have completed a tour in Iraq in a training capacity and have since returned to their home force. There are also occasional additional ad hoc visits associated with operational policing issues.

Secondary information