Letter jay to chakrabarti iraq deployments to orha

www.tco.gov.uk Department for me tauonal Development 1 Palace Street LONDON SWIE SHE 13 May 2003 Dear Suma, IRAQ: DEPLOYMENTS TO ORHA 1. Thank you for your letter of 13 May about security arrangements for ORHA. I agree with you that security is a key concern. We have discussed the issue with senior UK representatives in Baghdad, including General Tim Cross, John Sawers and , and have seen the security arrangements outlined in the UK-drafted brief for international partners. 2. As you note in your letter, the US military are committed to providing overall security and evacuation arrangements. They have established an extensive secure area around working accommodation and established procedures for ORHA's living and movement outside the secure area which provides protection against the threats from random violence and criminality. The view General Cross and his team is that the issue in Baghdad is protection rather than evacuation, and that the ORHA headquarters and working environment are secure. 3. I am willing to accept the judgement of those on the ground that the arrangements in place adequately provide security for the military and civilian secondees already in ORHA and the augmentees we will be deploying from today. In briefing UK secondees preparing for deployment we have stressed that Baghdad is an insecure followed at all times, however constraining they may be. All secondees are deploying with a full suite of protective equipment including body armour, helmets and personal NBC suits, and have been trained in their use by MoD. DECLASSIFIED Department) Who are seconding staff to ORHA, and to David Green at the British Council. Tom sewer, Threhan! Michael Jay DECLASSIFIED