No plans to bring troops home, says defence minister

8.00am

The Government has no plans to withdraw New Zealand troops from Iraq despite a mortar attack on their Basra base which injured two British soldiers yesterday.

Four mortar rounds were fired at Fortress Lines, a former naval academy outside the city which houses 61 New Zealanders - mostly Army engineers - and 350 British Army engineers.

One round landed inside the base, in which the New Zealanders live under canvas in a "tented compound".

It was not yet known who was responsible.

Defence Minister Mark Burton said today there were no plans to withdraw the mostly army engineers.

"The principles haven't changed. This has always been a high-risk environment.

"We made that clear from day one when the troops who are part of this aid and reconstruction engineering team went in."

The situation would be assessed by personnel on the ground, and the defence force chief Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson would offer advice on whether it had changed "in any respect that requires a rethink of the term of the deployment".

"At this stage there is no reason to believe that that is the case," Mr Burton told National Radio.

The troops, New Zealand's second, six-month contribution, are due to return home in September.

Mr Burton said such deployments carried an unavoidable element of risk.

"Everybody understands that," he said.

"The issue here is that we need to make sure we (have) accurate information and a professional assessment as to whether this incident constitutes a fundamental change in the degree of risk and also the ability of our personnel to get on and do the job they're there to do."

Defence Ministry spokeswoman Commander Sandy McKie said today the New Zealanders were back at work today helping to rebuild Basra.

There was "very, very minor damage to a portable cabin, so they went back to work and went about their normal duties," she said.

It was the first time mortar rounds had landed within the camp.

"Mortar rounds can be fired from some distance away -- it could be 1km or 2km and they can be lobbed into the camps," Cdr McKie told National Radio.

The base had gone into "lock-down" in April because of trouble in Basra, as it was then not safe for New Zealanders to go into the city to do their work.

"In this case the attack was on their own base, so they could go out and continue with their work," she said.

"These are very highly trained and skilled people and they know exactly what to do in these situations."

The New Zealand personnel had good relations with locals, but not a lot of contact.

"They have been well received, they usually attract crowds, but Kiwis are usually like that wherever they are in the world," Cdr McKie said.

She echoed Mr Burton's statement that there were no plans to bring the personnel home before September.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Iraq