PM stays silent on status of SAS role

11 Mar, 2002 07:19 PM2 mins to read

By VERNON SMALL

The Prime Minister is still refusing to tell New Zealanders what our SAS troops are doing in Afghanistan.

Australians have been given detailed accounts of their soldiers' heroics.

But Helen Clark will not even confirm the troops are in Afghanistan.

But yesterday she suggested Australian Prime Minister John Howard publicly farewelled SAS troops as an election campaign ploy.

The commander of the Australian Special Forces, Brigadier Duncan Lewis, said at the weekend that 100 of the 150 Australian special forces in Afghanistan had been directly involved in fighting al Qaeda forces.

As part of Operation Anaconda, Australian forces had been responsible for a large number of deaths by calling in United States air strikes.

They had also played a key role in rescuing US troops whose helicopter was forced down by enemy fire.

He said troops had been in the thick of fighting in the Shah-i-Kot valley in Southern Afghanistan.

The New Zealand forces are thought to be deployed with the British SAS. No British forces were involved in Anaconda.

Helen Clark said yesterday that it would take a casualty for the public to be told about the deployment.

"Were they to be there, and were they to suffer a casualty, I'm sure you would hear about it."

Commenting on the more open Australian policy, she said that had included Mr Howard's farewell to troops in Perth.

"The farewell didn't get followed up at the time by despatch because they sat on the wharf for quite some time after that. So the Australians obviously found it relevant to their election campaign."

New Zealand had offered troops for the Afghanistan campaign, and she had always said it should be assumed that offer would be accepted.

"The advice I have always had was to let covert forces operate covertly."

The Prime Minister said she would not get into a hypothetical debate about whether the SAS had killed anyone. Such details would not normally come to her attention.

Asked to comment on Brigadier Lewis' claim on his forces' battle tally, Helen Clark said: "Go to the Australians."

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