06 January 2009

Zimbabwe Unit

King Charles Street

LONDON

SW1A 2AH

Tel: 020 7008 4871

Fax: 0207 008 1582

Our reference: FOI 0978-08

Mr Stephen Nash by e-mail

[FOI #4613 email]

Dear Mr Nash,

Thank you for your e-mail of 8 December 2008 requesting information on Nicholas Van Hoogstraten especially in relation to his companies in Zimbabwe.

The FOI Act obliges us to respond to requests promptly, but qualified exemptions do apply to some of the information. Your request raises public interest considerations which must be analysed before we can come to a decision on releasing the information.

The following specific exemption in the Act is being considered for your request:

[Author ID1: at Fri Dec 19 10:35:00 2008 ]

Unfortunately we need to extend our response time limit by a further 20 working days to give us time to assess whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it

Therefore, we plan to let you have a response by 3 February. If there's a need for any further delay we will keep you informed.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint, you should write to me.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, 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 FCO. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully

Nadia Ramrayka

2

Foreign &

Commonwealth

Office