Jaafary to visit New Zealand to discuss military aid in fight against terrorism
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ja’afari will visit New Zealand this week as the New Zealand government considers military help in the war against Islamic State insurgents, according to a statement on Wednesday.
Al-Ja’afari would meet with Prime Minister John Key, Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee and Foreign Minister Murray McCully during the one-day visit to Auckland on Friday, said the statement.
“Global attention is currently on Iraq as the new government there focuses on rebuilding the country and combating the spread of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant),” McCully said in a statement.
“New Zealand is currently considering options for a noncombat, training role in Iraq and this visit is an opportunity to gain the Iraqi government’s perspective on how New Zealand can best assist, ” he said.
“We have already committed 14.5 million NZ dollars (10.77 million U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid to help people displaced by the fighting in Iraq and Syria and stepped up diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing the spread of extremist ideologies,” he said.
“Any capacity building role for the New Zealand military in Iraq will be dependent on an invitation from the Iraqi government. The discussions with Foreign Minister al-Ja’afari this Friday are an important step in determining whether there is a role for us to play in support of the Iraqi defence forces,” said McCully.
Brownlee announced Tuesday that New Zealand troops are to begin training for a possible deployment to Iraq as part of the fight against the ISIL.
The government agreed in November last year for up to 10 military planners to be deployed to determine whether New Zealand could play a role in helping the Iraqi Defence Force build capacity to fight ISIL, and they were still assessing the possible nature and location of such a mission, said Brownlee.
Last week, visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond asked New Zealand to join an international coalition to fight Islamic State insurgents as “part of the family” with the United States and Australia.
Key has repeatedly insisted New Zealand troops would not see combat.
Opposition politicians said the government would be putting New Zealand troops at risk in Iraq with no achievable objective at the behest of political allies in the United States, Australia and Britain.
“New Zealand cannot do for the Iraqi Army what it cannot and will not do for itself,” opposition Labor Party defense spokesperson Phil Goff said in a statement Wednesday.
“Over 25 billion U.S. dollars has been invested by the United States over the past 10 years in training and equipping them. That investment has made practically no difference,” he added./End/