NZ troops could find a role in Gaza

The dusty grime of the Gaza Strip may become home to New Zealand's peacekeeping troops - if and when the Middle East peace process is resolved.

New Zealand is being courted (unofficially) to take part in a Nato-led mission to stabilise the borders between Israel and the Palestinian state.

Not surprisingly, given the failed attempts to resolve the peace process by players even as charming as former US president Bill Clinton, a prospective New Zealand engagement is cloaked with caveats and hypotheticals.

But Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has mapped out with Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff a "virtual scenario" under which New Zealand troops would work alongside a Nato command.

De Hoop Scheffer points to "three strategic ifs" that will determine Nato's engagement: first, there must be a lasting peace agreement. Secondly, there must be a direct request from both Israel and the Palestinians for Nato to engage and, finally, there must be a United Nations Security Council mandate authorising the engagement.

De Hoop Scheffer cautions: "I'm not advocating a Nato role. But if the parties ask Nato to do something, why should Nato by definition say 'No'.

"We'll only come if the doorbell rings ... and not without a doorbell ringing."

In February, De Hoop Scheffer made the first visit by a Nato Secretary-General to Israel. Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Silvan Shalom was suitably platitudinous about his country's shared values with the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance - but he did call on De Hoop Scheffer to promote greater regional co-operation using a Nato framework.

What is clear is that Nato's participation will not extend to actively intervening in the peace process. "We have the quartet for that ... we have the Roadmap," said De Hoop Scheffer.

Nato's top diplomat also emphasises he did not directly request a New Zealand involvement in his February meeting with Goff.

He would hardly have needed to do so. Goff has long cherished a peacekeeping role for New Zealand and discussed it during his controversial visit with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the West Bank in May 2003.

"It's a longstanding offer we've put on the table over the last three to four years," says Goff. He suggests that the 26 to 28 New Zealand troops serving in the UN multinational force of observers in the Sinai Desert could be swung across to Gaza when - and if - Israel ultimately withdraws.

New Zealand has strong Middle East peacekeeping credentials. Brigadier-General Clive Lilley is chief of staff of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation put in place to supervise the 1948 Arab-Israeli ceasefire.

It may seem absurd for New Zealand to be contributing peacekeepers on the other side of the globe. But, says Goff, the problems in the Middle East have a ripple effect across the international community.

"We would be prepared to play a role to help entrench any settlement that could be reached that would bring peace to that region.

"We have made the offer within the United Nations - and I have acknowledged that we would be prepared to work there alongside Nato if the Roadmap can be effectively implemented."