Australia will not send peacekeepers to Iraq even if the U.N. Security Council supports a new multinational force to help American forces there, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said.
Howard said Friday he had told U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair before war broke out that Australia would only be involved in Iraq during the conflict and not provide peacekeepers afterward.
"We are not going to send any more peacekeepers, no," Howard told Melbourne radio station 3AW. "I made that clear right at the beginning of this whole thing."
About 800 Australian soldiers are deployed in Iraq for non-combat duties. (Albawaba.com)
