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UK, New Zealand military commanders meet amid Islamic State deliberations

Xinhua, February 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The chiefs of the New Zealand and United Kingdom armed forces held talks Wednesday a day after UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond asked for 100 New Zealand troops to help in the fight against Islamic State insurgents in the Middle East.

Chief of the New Zealand Defense Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating said he was hosting a visit by UK Chief of Defense Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton.

"The United Kingdom is one of our closest defense relationships, " Keating said in a statement Wednesday.

"Our two defense forces are working closely together to continue fostering that historic and deep partnership into the future."

The two would discuss matters of mutual interest, in order to maintain and improve bilateral military cooperation, he said.

On Tuesday, visiting British Foreign Secretary Hammond said at a televised press conference in Parliament that New Zealand was expected to join the coalition against militant Islamism as "part of the family."

"You have capable armed forces, highly inter-operable with ours, with the Australians, with the Americans. We would very much hope that New Zealand will be an active participant in a fight which is all of our fight," Hammond said.

Hammond told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that New Zealand had been asked to contribute 100 troops to a joint training mission with Australia in Iraq.

The New Zealand government has sent military analysts to Iraq to see if the country could play a role in training Iraqi troops in the fight against the Islamic State, but Key has insisted New Zealand troops would not see combat.

Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday that a decision on New Zealand's involvement in training Iraqi troops was still some time off.

Andrew Little, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, said the country still needed to know what the mission was if it were to commit troops to a conflict zone.

"What are we being asked to do? What are we being asked to do that 10 years and 250 billion U.S. dollars of American time and money hasn't been able to do?" Little told Radio New Zealand. Endi