Troops' dispatch hangs on security

By HELEN TUNNAH deputy political editor

Army engineers will not be sent to Iraq if security continues to worsen and the Defence Force believes they will not be able to do their job.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday that Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson had said the soldiers due to leave for Iraq this month could still perform their humanitarian role in helping to rebuild the war-torn country.

"Our attitude is that as long as we have advice that the engineers can do the job they go to do, then they should go.

"At the moment, I understand the Chief of Defence Force's advice is still that they can do the job."

Asked if the Government would change its mind if that advice changed, Helen Clark said: "We would certainly act on his advice."

Her comments come as the New Zealand soldier wounded in an Iraq bomb blast last month arrived home.

Major Todd Hart from Linton Army Camp in the Manawatu was back in New Zealand with his wife and three children last night.

Major Todd was injured in the suicide attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad which killed 24 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

A Defence Force spokesman said Major Hart was recovering "pretty well" from his injuries, which included severe cuts to his arms and face.

The first of 40 engineers, plus administration and support staff, going to Iraq to work alongside British forces are due to leave this month.

Violence has flared in Iraq, the most dramatic outbreak being a weekend blast at a sacred Shiite Muslim site which killed at least 80 people.

British forces have also been subjected to attacks.

Three military policemen were killed by gunmen less than a week ago, and a bomb exploded near their main headquarters in southern Iraq at the weekend.

Aid agencies have also begun withdrawing staff since Mr Vieira de Mello and the other UN workers were killed.

Helen Clark said security had been getting worse for some time.

"It would be many, many weeks that the level of violence has been rising. New Zealand, like the late Mr de Mello, only puts up its hand to help if it can be helpful."

She said Air Marshal Ferguson had not been specifically asked to review security, but he was monitoring it. "I have spoken to him as recently as a week ago ... His view at the time was that the deployment should go ahead."

A Defence Force spokesman said the Prime Minister received regular classified security reports, as well as specific reports when incidents occurred.

New Zealand also has 100 soldiers in Afghanistan, where violence has also increased.