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18 September 2008

Information Rights Team

Information Management Group

Old Admiralty Building

SG/124

London

SW1A 2PA

E-mail: tanweer.hussain@fco.gov.uk

Reference: 0604-08

by email: [FOI #1340 email]

Dear Dr Kaihsu Tai

Your Freedom Of Information Request: 0604-08

Thank you for your request for information which we received on 22 July 2008.

I can confirm that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does hold information falling within the terms of your request.

The FOI Act obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in any case no later than 20

working days after receiving your request. However, when a qualified exemption applies to

the information and the public interest test is engaged, the Act allows the time for response

to be longer than 20 working days, and a full response must be provided within such time as

is reasonable in all circumstances of the case. We do, of course, aim to make all decisions

within 20 working days, including in cases where we need to consider where the public

interest lies in respect of a request for exempt information. In this case, however, we have

not yet reached a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies.

In your case, after further consultations, we estimate that it will take an additional 10 working days to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies Therefore, we plan to let you have a response by 2 October 2008. If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we will keep you informed.

The specific exemption(s) which apply in relation to your request is section 27 (International relations).

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to

make a complaint or request an review of our decision, you should write to The Information Rights Team. Please note any request for an internal review must be submitted within 40 working days from the date our response was issued.

If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply directly to the

Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless

you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Please contact me if you have any queries about this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Tanweer Hussain

Case Manager, Information Rights Team

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