MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Some 200 Australian special forces sent to fight Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq are stuck at the border due to Baghdad's failure to offer sufficient legal protections, Australia-based media reported Wednesday citing Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"I made it crystal clear that our special forces are ready to go and there is an enormous amount of good that they can do inside Iraq. But we owe it to our special forces only to deploy them with the right legal protections," Abbott was quoted as saying by the Australian branch of the Lebanese LBCI Television.
According to the Australian prime minister, Australian troops intending to "advise and assist" missions with the Iraqi army against IS militants have been in the United Arab Emirates since mid-September since their legal status in the region has not been formally agreed. Abbott said that he was confident a deal would be reached, but was uncertain why there still had not been any negotiations, according to LBCI.
The United States, Britain and Germany currently have military specialists operating in Iraq without legal protection as outlined in the formal Status of Forces Agreement which Australia has requested for its forces.
Though Abbott has been a major supporter of US-led military action in Iraq, some believe the prime minister is using the legal protection issue to hold off the deployment of its troops. According to John Blaxland, a fellow at the Australian National University's Strategic and Defense Studies Center, interviewed by LBCI, Abbott's early approval of the United States' operations in Iraq may have been merely to push the country to follow through with its plans independent of Australia.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama met with military leaders from 20 countries over operations against the IS. Countries in attendance included Australia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Australian fighter jets began hitting targets inside Iraq earlier in October as part of the US operations fighting the IS militants who are conquering territories in Iraq and Syria.
