Australian military role unclear as Iraq minister rejects idea of foreign troops.
Iraqi foreign minister ‘absolutely against’ foreign presence but Tony Abbott remains confident of gaining legal clearance
The
“level of engagement” of Australian special forces troops heading to
Iraq is still unclear after the new Iraqi foreign minister, Ibrahim
al-Jaafari, was quoted as saying he was “absolutely against foreign
military bases and the presence of foreign military forces”.
However, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, confirmed the legal clearance contained in a status of forces agreement (Sofa) for the special forces troops was expected within days.
“With the new government of Iraq still forming, it is taking a little longer than we would have liked to have put those legal protections in place but I am confident that the situation will be revolved in the next few days,” Abbott said.
The Australian soldiers remain in the United Arab Emirates awaiting clearance to advise Iraqi military forces in their fight against Islamic State (Isis). The clearance has been in process for weeks.
Al-Jaafari’s comments appear to place a cloud over the status of foreign troops, though small groups of US, British and German troops are already on the ground in Iraq in an advisory role.
He was quoted as telling the RT news channel: “We are absolutely against foreign military bases and the presence of foreign military forces. Yes, we did ask for help, but it concerned air cover.”
“The question of sending troops in was discussed several times and we were very frank and stated clearly that we are completely against the deployment of foreign troops on our territory, as it can cause justifiable fears and concerns among the Iraqi population.”
Abbott rejected suggestions the Iraqi government was wavering about international troop deployments in its country.
Asked whether the new Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, had expressed any reluctance about Australian troops entering Iraq, Abbott said: “I made it very clear to [al-Abadi] in New York a couple of weeks ago that we were very keen to help.”
“I made it crystal clear that our special forces are ready to go and there is an enormous amount of good that they can do inside Iraq but we owe it to our special forces only to deploy them with the right legal protections.”
However, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, confirmed the legal clearance contained in a status of forces agreement (Sofa) for the special forces troops was expected within days.
“With the new government of Iraq still forming, it is taking a little longer than we would have liked to have put those legal protections in place but I am confident that the situation will be revolved in the next few days,” Abbott said.
The Australian soldiers remain in the United Arab Emirates awaiting clearance to advise Iraqi military forces in their fight against Islamic State (Isis). The clearance has been in process for weeks.
Al-Jaafari’s comments appear to place a cloud over the status of foreign troops, though small groups of US, British and German troops are already on the ground in Iraq in an advisory role.
He was quoted as telling the RT news channel: “We are absolutely against foreign military bases and the presence of foreign military forces. Yes, we did ask for help, but it concerned air cover.”
“The question of sending troops in was discussed several times and we were very frank and stated clearly that we are completely against the deployment of foreign troops on our territory, as it can cause justifiable fears and concerns among the Iraqi population.”
Abbott rejected suggestions the Iraqi government was wavering about international troop deployments in its country.
Asked whether the new Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, had expressed any reluctance about Australian troops entering Iraq, Abbott said: “I made it very clear to [al-Abadi] in New York a couple of weeks ago that we were very keen to help.”
“I made it crystal clear that our special forces are ready to go and there is an enormous amount of good that they can do inside Iraq but we owe it to our special forces only to deploy them with the right legal protections.”
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