Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, of which country's intelligence agencies the official arrested in Turkey in connection with the British girls who ran away from home to join ISIS is a member; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
We are grateful to Turkey for the close cooperation on all aspects of counter-terrorism work. We continue to work closely with the Turkish National Police Force and Turkish Embassy on this case. It is the long-standing policy of successive governments not to comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish details of any complicity or involvement by the UK Government while Tony Blair was Prime Minister over rendition, interrogation and detention by the Central Intelligence Agency which have been redacted from the report by the US Senate intelligence committee.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The US gave UK Agencies limited sight of some sections of the executive summary prior to its publication.
Our Agencies highlighted a small number of issues in the proposed text where changes would be necessary solely to protect UK national security and intelligence operations. None of these redactions related to allegations of UK involvement in detainee mistreatment.
We did not lobby, at any level, to have information removed or redacted in relation to UK involvement in rendition or mistreatment of detainees. The UK Government did not receive an advance copy of the report before publication.
In July 2010, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the member for Witney (Mr Cameron) asked Sir Peter Gibson to lead an inquiry into whether Britain was implicated in the improper treatment, or rendition, of detainees held by other countries in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. In December 2013 the Detainee Inquiry published a report on its preparatory work setting out a series of questions which the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament is now considering. This Committee will report to Parliament and to the public on the completion of its work.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government (a) made any requests to and (b) was approached by the US Senate Intelligence Committee or the US administration on redaction of passages in that committee's report about the CIA's detention and interrogation programme.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The US gave UK Agencies limited sight of some sections of the executive summary prior to its publication. Our Agencies highlighted a small number of issues in the proposed text where changes would be necessary solely to protect UK national security and intelligence operations. None of these redactions related to allegations of UK involvement in detainee mistreatment. We did not lobby, at any level, to have information removed or redacted in relation to UK involvement in rendition or mistreatment of detainees. The UK Government did not receive an advance copy of the report before publication. In July 2010, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) asked Sir Peter Gibson to lead an inquiry into whether Britain was implicated in the improper treatment, or rendition, of detainees held by other countries in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. In December 2013 the Detainee Inquiry published a report on its preparatory work setting out a series of questions which the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament is now considering. This Committee will report to Parliament and to the public on the completion of its work.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Israeli government condemning its (a) closure of the al-Aqsa mosque and other parts of the al-Sharif site in Jerusalem and (b) plan to build 1,000 housing units in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv delivered a clear message to the Israeli Cabinet Secretary on 30 October, advocating reopening of the mosque. The mosque re-opened on 31 October for men over 50 and for women. I issued a statement on 29 October condemning the announcement of plans for 1,060 new housing units in East Jerusalem. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised this issue with the Israeli National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Political-Military Adviser, senior contacts at the National Security Council and the Cabinet Office.