Iraqi security forces personnel fire artillery during clashes with Islamic State militants, in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad October 26, 2014. Picture taken October 26, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer
IN PHOTO: Iraqi security forces personnel fire artillery during clashes with Islamic State militants, in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad October 26, 2014. Picture taken October 26, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer REUTERS/Stringer

New Zealand will be opening an embassy in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad. Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced it would be located within the embassy of Australia.

New Zealand’s ambassador to Iraq, James Munro, is an Arabic speaker and former military officer who has been previously assigned to posts in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. McCully said Munro will be in tasked to support New Zealand’s non-combat training mission to Iraq.

The new ambassador would assess how New Zealand can provide better support and boost relations with the Iraqi government. The Baghdad embassy in New Zealand would also be responsible for maintaining good relations with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, reports New Zealand Herald. Iraq does not have an embassy in Wellington but its ambassador to Australia also serves as the ambassador to New Zealand.

New Zealand has just deployed more than 100 troops to join their Australian counterparts in Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. The Kiwi soldiers are in a non-combat training mission to help Iraqi government forces.

Meanwhile, the debate still continues on whether or not New Zealand should send its troops home. New Zealand First has urged the government to withdraw the Kiwi soldiers from Iraq due to advancing ISIS troops.

The party’s defence spokesperson, Ron Mark, said if Iraq did not have the heart to defend itself, it was not worth the lives of New Zealand soldiers. Mark told Morning Report that he was not alone in his feelings about the Iraqis and cited the statement of U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter who also thought the same thing, reports Radio NZ.

“All of them expressed the same concern and the same observation that the Iraqis in Ramadi showed a lack of will to fight, a lack of will to engage, and in fact the comment was they weren’t driven out of Ramadi, they drove out,” said Mark. Neil James, the Australian Defence Association executive director and former army officer, believes Mark made some valid points.

James accused some media in New Zealand for being irresponsible. He said the last thing that New Zealand would want to do is give militants the idea that attacking troops from the country would make them come home.

(To report problems or leave feedback on this article, contact: r.su@ibtimes.com.au)

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