Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 24 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 February 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 21 February 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many explosive remnants of war have been cleared in Iraq to date; at what cost; how many casualties have resulted; what assessment has been made of the amount remaining; how much longer the clearance is expected to take; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many explosive remnants of war have been cleared in Iraq to date; at what cost; how many casualties have resulted; what assessment has been made of the amount remaining; how much longer the clearance is expected to take; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [200301] Mr. Ingram: Significant quantities of munitions exist in Iraq as a result of the most recent period of hostilities, as well as the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict and Iraq's conflict with Iran. These consist of large stockpiles of Captured Enemy Ammunition (CEA) as well as explosive remnants of war, and the United Kingdom is not responsible for clearing these munitions, but any details of sites we hold are passed onto the relevant organisations. The clearance of CEA is organised across Iraq by the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and is done by civilian contractors, non-governmental organisations and military Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams. Over 850,000 individual munitions have been cleared from MND(SE). We do not have details of progress made by other coalition partners. Neither the total cost of the clearance of CEA nor the number of casualties from unexploded ordnance is available.

Secondary information