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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 07, 2003

New Zealand to Answer UN Call for Troops: Clark

New Zealand would send armed troops to Iraq if the United Nations (UN) asked for help to clean up after a war, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday.


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New Zealand would send armed troops to Iraq if the United Nations (UN) asked for help to clean up after a war, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday.

After US Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the UN Security Council Thursday, the chances of a war with Iraq have risen to well above 70 percent, Clark told reporters gathered for Waitangi Day celebrations.

The United Nations would have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of a war which would cause massive damage to the country' s infrastructure and kill up to 100,000 Iraqis, she said.

"Another 400,000 would be likely to be affected from disease arising from the breakdown of water and sewage systems."

She said a UN report had showed up to 1.5 million people would attempt to flee the country, probably towards the heavily mined border with Iran, which would bring more heavy casualties.

"You are dealing with a society where right now more than 49 percent of the households are totally dependent on food parcels for their survival," Clark said.

Last month New Zealand's defense forces were instructed to workout what aid could be given to Iraq after a war.

Clark told reporters that if the United Nations asks for armed peacekeeping troops similar to the operation in East Timor, New Zealand would "always put our hand up."

"We would join an international effort for humanitarian aid, for medical support and the kind of work our army engineers could do on infrastructure would be pretty important," Clark said.

She added New Zealand had a high international reputation for niche expertise such as mine clearing, and that could also be an option in the aftermath of a war.

The chances of war had now grown well beyond her earlier estimate of 70 percent, unless Iraqi President Saddam Hussein leftthe country, and unless Iraq came clean on a pattern of deception,Clark said.

She said America had produced what looked like "pretty good evidence of a pattern of deception to ensure the (United Nations weapons) inspectors couldn't find out where anything is."

"It is the consequences of that the Security Council is going to debate," she added.


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