New Zealand military chief to attend anti-IS talks

WELLINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's most senior military officer is to attend a meeting of defense chiefs of the coalition against terror group Islamic State (IS).

Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, Lieut. Gen. Tim Keating said Monday that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to attend the meeting scheduled for Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 in Riyadh.

The meeting was one of a series being held for coalition chiefs of defense to discuss the situation regarding "Daesh," also known as the IS.

"The New Zealand government has made no decisions about possible New Zealand Defence Force involvement in training in Iraq, but it makes sense that there's New Zealand Defence Force representation at such a meeting," Keating said in a statement.

"The meeting will be a good opportunity to receive updates on the situation."

The government announced on Feb. 10 that New Zealand troops had begun contingency training for a deployment to Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari officially requested New Zealand military assistance in the fight against IS during a visit to Auckland Friday during talks with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Prime Minister John Key and Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee.

McCully said New Zealand would talk with Australia about the possibility of sending training troops to Iraq.

Key has repeatedly ruled out New Zealand troops being involved in combat, and said that if troops were sent they would only train Iraqi troops. Enditem