To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement by the Prime Minister of 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 304, on Afghanistan, what plans his Department has to recruit and deploy specialists who speak Afghan languages and understand tribal dynamics. (175461)

Officials are examining a variety of options for recruiting and deploying such specialists, particularly in support of the government of Afghanistan's work on reconciliation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement by the Prime Minister of 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 304, on Afghanistan, how many of his Department's personnel serve in the collocated headquarters. (175465)

The UK employs a broad range of staff in support of the government of Afghanistan to help develop a stable and secure Afghanistan. Over 100 civilian staff in Kabul and over 30 staff in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar are employed from across the Government, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and the Afghanistan Drugs Inter-Departmental Unit. Their roles include work in governance, reconstruction and development, and counter narcotics. The work of Task Force Helmand and of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Lashkar Gah are co-ordinated through the combined civil-military Helmand Executive Group.