NZ troops to stay another night in Townsville

A company of 124 New Zealand soldiers will spend at least a second night in Townsville, after leaving Christchurch yesterday to be part of the Australian-led international stabilisation force in East Timor.

An infantry platoon of 42 from Burnham Camp arrived in Dili last night to prepare for the arrival of the New Zealand company which left yesterday on a Boeing 757.

New Zealand Defence Force spokesman Lieutenant Commander Andrew Lincoln said the company was going through "acclimatisation" in Townsville and waiting for more equipment, including ammunition and a light armoured vehicle, to arrive on a Hercules C-130 transporter plane today.

There was still no confirmed date for the company to deploy in Dili.

"It could be as early as … Monday or Tuesday. But they'll be ready to go once they have the green light from the Government," Lt Cdr Lincoln told NZPA.

In Townsville today the soldiers were doing final equipment checks and fine-tuning it to operate in the tropical heat.

"The platoon has arrived (in Dili) and is setting things up, so once the situation is clear the company will go in. Before you go into theatre there's lots of issues to sort out, like transport and where you're going to bunk down," Lt Cdr Lincoln said.

- NZPA