Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Catherine West
Main Page: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)Department Debates - View all Catherine West's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(5 years, 3 months ago)
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Alistair Burt
We have an active and thriving Iraq-UK business council. Baroness Nicholson has been involved for many years in efforts in this area, particularly in the south of the country in Basra. The contracts and opportunities for the rebuilding and the reconstruction of Iraq will be much helped by the international community’s determination to support Iraq and Iraq’s own use of its oil revenues. British companies should be well placed because of their history and expertise.
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)
What dialogue has the Minister had with the Government of Iraq on the rights of Kurdish Iraqis and Kurds across the region?
Alistair Burt
The Kurdish community is represented through the Kurdish Regional Government, and we keep in regular contact with them. Relationships between Baghdad and Irbil are vital for ensuring that the Kurdish community feels a full part of a united Iraq. Those relations, I think, have been strengthened since the election of President Barham Salih, but the Kurdish people’s future in a united Iraq is fundamental to the future and progress of a united Iraq.