Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department made of the effect on security in Iraq of escalating conflict between Governmental forces and the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq.

The show of force and threats from armed groups around Baghdad's International Zone in May undermines the Iraqi people's repeated calls for peace and respect for the rule of law. No one should use force and threats to impede criminal investigations. On the 2 June the Foreign Secretary spoke to Iraq's Prime Minister Kadhimi to condemn threats by armed groups. The UK fully supports the government's investigation into the actions of armed groups and we stand with Iraq against militias agitating for escalation.

We strongly condemn the killing of the activist Ihab al-Wazni. Impunity for the killing of activists since October 19 has only led to more deaths. There is an urgent need for concrete measures to hold perpetrators accountable and protect Iraqi citizens.