Greens claim New Zealand deceived over army role in Iraq

The Green party has accused the Government of deceiving the public over the role of New Zealand military engineers in Iraq whom they claim are there to curry favour with the United States.

Documents showed the engineers spent a substantial amount of their time on occupation and security matters, researcher Nicky Hager has claimed.

Defence Minister Mark Burton denied the claims, saying there were strict rules to ensure the New Zealanders did only humanitarian and reconstruction work.

Greens defence spokesman Keith Locke said New Zealanders believed the soldiers were merely helping to rebuild bridges and schools in Iraq.

"It is no wonder that last week the US government listed New Zealand as a 'force contributing nation' and therefore eligible, unlike France and Germany, to bid for major reconstruction contracts in Iraq," Mr Locke said today.

"Clearly, the reason we made a military rather than a civilian contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq was to win brownie points with the Americans and the Brits."

New Zealand had now become "complicit in the increasingly dirty war", he said.

Mr Burton said sending the engineers to work under the British "was the most appropriate and immediate way we could provide assistance".

It was "cynical and insulting" to claim that the Government had supplied help merely to curry favour with the Americans, he said.

"It's also insulting to the work that our people are doing."

Hager said the 61 engineers were part of the British 35th engineer regiment and live in a camp called Fortress Lines in Basra.

Sixteen logistics personnel were "dispersed within the UK engineer regiment" and six were part of the regiment's fitter section servicing and repairing British military equipment.

A navy engineer had joined the British combat support boat crew and four staff officers were posted at two British military headquarters at Shaibah and Basra, Hager said.

"Do not underestimate how important filling the staff officer positions is.

"It will not only give us a say in how our people are employed, it will give us high visibility on the ground and earn us huge gratitude from the Brits who are very strapped for staff officers," a confidential New Zealand Defence memo said, according to Hager.

Among the work of army field engineers was "local security tasks", Hager said

"Our engineers have spent a lot of their time erecting defensive walls, building road barriers and otherwise fortifying first their own then the various other British military sites dotted around Basra.

The rules of engagement for the New Zealand contingent said the soldiers could use deadly force to defend themselves and other coalition personnel, and also to protect designated persons and property.

The British commander decided who was a designated person and what was designated property.

They could also shoot people trying to board, seize or damage a coalition aircraft or vehicle.

They were allowed to search people and vehicles "for the conduct of public order control".

Mr Burton said the engineers had not operated outside the New Zealand Government's terms of reference, which made it clear their work was solely for humanitarian, aid and reconstruction purposes.

"These engineers are tasked by a New Zealand senior officer who is in direct line of command to chief of defence force in New Zealand, and operate entirely within the New Zealand government statement of intent."

Engineers worked on the British army vehicles they used.

"It's an entirely reasonable arrangement that if you're borrowing equipment like a Land Rover you take responsibility for looking after it ... None of the engineers has ever worked on a British tank," Mr Burton said.

They also contributed to the building, security and maintenance of the facilities where they lived, to ensure that their accommodation was safe.

"We always said they would be armed for self-protection and able to look after themselves."

The engineers did not take part in "security patrols, searches, or work at checkpoints".

Mr Burton declined to comment on the rules of engagement, saying the Government never published these because it could endanger the soldiers' lives.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Iraq