Prime Minister John Key has outlined the Government's plan for sending NZ military personal to help combat the forces of Islamic State in Iraq.

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed 143 New Zealand Defence Force personnel will go to Iraq for a non-combat mission lasting up to two years.

In a ministerial statement to Parliament this afternoon, Key said the decision reflected the fact that New Zealand was a country that "stands up for its values".

"We stand up for what's right," he said. The mission would work alongside Australian troops and be based at the American-run Camp Taji, north of Baghdad.

Phil Walter/Getty Images John Key

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The core of the mission would include 106 personnel with others to be based at command headquarters, taking the total deployed to 143.

Key stressed the mandate would be training Iraqi forces - but did not rule out deploying the SAS at times to support the mission, either for security advice or to accompany high-profile visits. The prime minister also announced a new ambassador for counter terrorism.

Key told Parliament the New Zealanders would train Iraqi security forces so they were better placed to fight terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, or ISIL.

SUPPLIED/NZDF Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Tim Keating says building relationships between the NZDF and Iraqi soldiers will be key.

"ISIL's ability to motivate Islamist radicals make it a threat not only to stability in the Middle East, but regionally and locally too," Key said.

"New Zealanders are prolific travellers and we are not immune from the threat ISIL poses."

But Labour leader Andrew Little said the mission was futile.

SUPPLIED/NZDF A New Zealand Defence Force map showing IS in relation to Taji, where NZ troops will be stationed.

"We should not send troops to Iraq; there is no case to do so," he said.

"We've all seen the images coming out of Iraq; the images from IS, their barbarism, their brutality, their evil ...

"But let's be clear about what we're- dealing with. They call themselves Islamic State; but they are not a state . . . they are not within a single border; they are across borders.

SUPPLIED/NZDF NZ training of Iraqi troops will include weapons training, planning and support.

"IS is not confined to Iraq - it's in Syria. it's in Libya. As we know its adherents can turn up anywhere in the world."

Kiwis around the world would be put at risk by the Government's announcement today, and most would not understand why, Little said.

"The case has not been put."

Opposition leaders united in condemning National's refusal to allow Parliament to vote on the deployment.

With Opposition parties opposed to the deployment, the Government has avoided a vote because it does not have the numbers following the resignation of Northland MP Mike Sabin.

Green Party co-leader Dr Russel Norman, in a speech shouted down by Government MPs, said more blood would be shed on Iraqi soil because of the Government's decision.

It would also put New Zealand lives at risk.

"We are going to supposedly defend democracy in the Middle East but the National Party Government has just now prevented Parliament from voting on whether New Zealand should go to war," Norman said.

"Democracy, it seems, is for military export and not domestic consumption."

Key told a press conference the decision was not taken lightly and was not without danger.

He did not believe Little would oppose the deployment if he was in office.

And he called on him to "get some guts" in a strongly-worded speech in Parliament criticising Labour's position.

Labour in government had sent engineers and the SAS he said.

And it would be far more dangerous to build hospitals, schools and roads as part of a reconstruction role, as Labour advocated, than the training deployment.

Every New Zealander was at risk because of IS, he said.

The number of people on a domestic watch list he had identified in a speech in November as 35 to 40 had since increased.

"It's now between 60 and 70 people."

Asked what impact it would have on the morale of the troops to know half the Parliament opposed the deployment, Keating said he listened to the parliamentary debate.

He was pleased that most who spoke gave their best wishes to the Defence Force and that was the most telling thing.

"In the democracy that we serve and the one we are working towards in Iraq seeing that sort of healthy debate in Parliament - the prime minister taking that to Parliament was the appropriate thing to do.'



He agreed it was not just a military solution. He said there was resounding support for the soldiers and the Defence Force would take that to heart.

Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Tim Keating said the deployment would help Iraqi forces build the ability to train themselves.

He has satisfied himself what could be achieved and the risks.

He had formed the view the mission was within the force's capability and he had informed the Government of that.

Keating said a third of the 62 nations involved had made a military contribution.

The 42 square kilometre Taji base where the Kiwis would be based was a suitable site.

Training of troops for the mission had now been designated pre-deployment training.

The training of Iraqis would include basic weapons training, planning and and support.

Keating said the training was yet to be finalised but was expected to train a substantial number.

All the 106 based in Taji would be armed and have the right to self defence but the force was not designed to confront IS.

Force protection was a primary issue and all would be done to protect those going.

As yet there was not a status of forces agreement (SOFA) in place but other avenues were being explored to ensure appropriate legal protections for the Kiwi troops.

A SOFA was just one possible protection. He said of the 106 in Taji there would be 16 specialist trainers and others could also be involved in training but he would not give a breakdown of those protecting the troops and those involved in logistics.

Keating did not rule out special forces as advisers or as protection.

"The current mission is not a special forces mission."

The SAS had not been in Iraq yet. Australia has not yet committed but NZ would partner with another nation, likely Australia.

He would not detail intelligence efforts.

It was likely Air Force planes would be used to move troops and equipment to Taji but planning had not been completed.

Key said the intention was not to go beyond two years and the mission would be reviewed in 12 months.



KEY DETAILS:

* Up to 143 NZDF personnel approved by Cabinet to deploy on a training mission, with the main body likely to deploy in May.

* Up to 106 personnel will be based at the Taji military complex, 30 kilometres north of Baghdad. A number of staff officers will be at coalition headquarters in Baghdad, and additional personnel will be at coalition bases in the region.

* Other personnel and air force assets will occasionally need to be deployed to the region to support the mission – for example in support of personnel rotations and resupply.

* A "significant number" of the troops will be engaged in "force protection". Logistics and medical support, as well as headquarters staff, will also be deployed.

* The training personnel will provide basic weapons skills and other training to Iraqi forces.

* On the diplomatic front, New Zealand will appoint a new ambassador for counter-terrorism and is looking to place diplomatic representation in Baghdad.

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