Tony Abbott assures Iraqi PM Australia will be 'a strong partner' against Isis
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Version 0 of 1. Tony Abbott has pledged during a visit to Baghdad to intensify Australia’s cooperation with the Iraqi government, describing the joint military action against Islamic State (Isis) as a defence of “universal values”. The Australian prime minister also announced an extra $5m in humanitarian aid which he said would help feed about 350,000 people in Iraq for the next month. Abbott met the Iraqi prime minister, Haider Al-Abadi, and praised Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel during the visit on Sunday. Australian Super Hornet fighter jets are contributing to coalition air strikes in Iraq and about 200 special forces members are “advising and assisting” the Iraqi military on the fight against Isis. Abbott, on his first visit to Baghdad, told Al-Abadi he looked forward “to a strong and constructive partnership in the weeks and months ahead”. “We are determined to deepen our cooperation with the government and the people of Iraq in the weeks and months to come – not because we are a country which goes forward seeking foreign fights, but because where our vital national interests are threatened, where universal values are at stake, Australia should be a strong partner,” Abbott said after a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart. He said Iraq had “suffered a very great deal” with “decades of tyranny under Saddam Hussein” and then “the chaos and confusion that followed the American-led invasion” in 2003. Northern Iraq was now suffering “the tumult, the dark age” as a result of Isis, Abbott said. “We haven’t just seen millions of people displaced, we haven’t just seen tens of thousands of people killed here in Iraq; we haven’t just seen the beheadings, the crucifixions, the mass executions and the sexual slavery here in Iraq, we have also seen exhortations from the death cult to people right around the world to engage in acts of terrorism, and even Australia has had its brush with terrorism in recent weeks,” he said. “The people of Iraq are going through an extraordinarily difficult time, but Australia is a friend of the Iraqi people and we will do everything we reasonably can to support the Iraqi government as it does what’s necessary to restore its control over its own country and its own citizens.” At a barbecue lunch with ADF personnel, Abbott said he had intended to visit earlier to wish troops a happy Christmas but the trip was delayed by the Sydney siege. He said people would always argue with the policy of the government of the day, but he did not think “any fair dinkum Australian” questioned the ADF’s professionalism and courage. Abbott was joined in Iraq by the ADF chief, Mark Binskin, and the newly appointed defence minister, Kevin Andrews. He said the government’s $5m pledge for additional humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq would bring Australia’s contribution to $22m since June last year. Abbott said the commitment to the UN World Food Program was critical as Iraq was in the middle of winter and local communities had lost their harvest because of attacks by Isis. “Australia’s funding will provide critical support for women and children who continue to be disproportionately impacted by the ongoing violence in Iraq,” he said. The midyear economic and fiscal outlook (Myefo) published last month showed the government had budgeted nearly $300m for the net additional cost of ADF involvement in Iraq. These costs, with a funding boost for domestic counter-terrorism agencies, were offset by further cuts to budgeted foreign aid of $3.7bn over three years. Isis has “proven resilient” and remains a threat despite recent military operations against it in Syria and Iraq, according to a brief of evidence compiled by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio). The spy agency provided the assessment as part of the process of declaring al-Raqqa province in Syria as the first “no-go zone” under the government’s new foreign fighter laws. A parliamentary committee is reviewing the government’s decision, announced in early December, to designate the area as off limits to Australians. Citizens who enter or remain in al-Raqqa face jail terms of up to 10 years – unless the travel is solely for a legitimate reason such as a bona fide visit to relatives. |