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Iraq

My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to my noble friend for the work that, as the whole House will agree, she did—and I know continues to do—so splendidly and constructively throughout the Middle East. I therefore hope that noble Lords will take heed of her comments to the Leader of the Opposition in that context; I shall say no more. Syria is an important state. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary met the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in New York on 28 September. The purpose of that meeting, in part, was to urge Syria to do more than it currently does to work for greater regional stability and, of course, to play a constructive role in Lebanon and the Middle East peace process. We have full diplomatic relations with Syria and wish to see it engaged fully in the region for exactly the reasons that my noble friend indicated and to make sure that in so doing it is mindful that stability in the region will have a beneficial effect on the nation of Syria.