Britain wants NZ force in Iraq

By STAFF REPORTERS and AGENCIES

New Zealand may consider sending troops to Iraq under a top-secret stabilisation scheme being worked out by the British.

The plan was outlined to Prime Minister Helen Clark during talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing St last week.

Helen Clark is refusing to comment on the plan, but it is understood she will brief the Cabinet today.

The Government has said it is unlikely to send peacekeepers while there is an "occupational" force in charge of the country rather than a United Nations-led contingent.

Under the British plan, a new resolution would be put to the UN Security Council to establish a peacekeeping effort in Iraq similar to that in Afghanistan.

New Zealand troops could be asked to join that effort.

The clearest indication of the plan has come from Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, whose country sent forces to help with the invasion.

He said the United States, Britain and Poland would lead the 10-nation stabilisation force.

"The idea is to have all the countries ready to engage there by the end of this month," he said on the sidelines of a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Greece.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was more reticent on the deployment, saying "no final decisions have been made".

A senior US official has said Iraq would be divided into three as-yet-undefined sectors, one patrolled by about 20,000 US soldiers and the other two by contingents under British and Polish command.

Ten nations have so far offered to take part. Apart from the three lead nations, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Albania had volunteered troops, said the unnamed US official.



Helen Clark had no comment to make yesterday on the issue, but a spokeswoman said she was following developments in Iraq closely.

The Prime Minister's trip to Europe last week was seen by many commentators as successful on the trade front, but she has again been accused of making a verbal gaffe with the potential to damage New Zealand's international relations.

As she returned from Europe on Saturday, the Prime Minister was reported in Britain's Guardian newspaper as suggesting New Zealand's traditional allies had unleashed the "law of the jungle" by going to war without international backing.

She said Britain and the US had created a dangerous precedent - one they might live to regret when China became the dominant world power later this century.

The comments about the precedent set by the unilateral military action were not new.

She has said the same thing a number of times over the past few months.

But Opposition MPs yesterday seized on her decision to repeat them after a personal visit with Mr Blair, describing them as insulting.

Last month Helen Clark apologised to the US Administration for suggesting the war would not have happened if Al Gore was President instead of George W. Bush.

Neither the US nor Chinese embassies would discuss Helen Clark's latest comments yesterday.

But National leader Bill English said the Prime Minister's outburst would damage New Zealand's international interests even further.

"She seems to be on a personal crusade regardless of the national interest of New Zealand," he said.

Mr English thought Helen Clark followed the right line when, early in the conflict, she disagreed with the actions of Britain and the US but refrained from criticising them.

"For some reason when the bullets started flying, the tactics changed and now she's having a go at everybody," he said.

"It's her job to be the guardian of our national interest and it won't help to go round criticising our traditional friends and allies."

Act leader Richard Prebble said it was unprofessional of the Prime Minister to criticise the nation that hosted her.

"It was a silly statement that belies Helen Clark's many claims that the reason for her trip to Europe was to help heal the rifts between the US and Britain and the Coalition of countries that oppose the Iraq war."

But Green MP Keith Locke called her comments courageous.

Herald Feature: Iraq