- Prime Minister John Howard has just confirmed Australian
troops will join a US-led war against Iraq.
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- Mr Howard announced the move after briefing Coalition
MPs on Cabinet's decision.
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- "The Government strongly believes that the decision
it's taken is right, it is legal, it is directed towards the protection
of the Australian national interest, and [I] ask the Australian community
to support it."
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- Mr Howard says Australia's military chiefs have been
informed.
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- Cabinet met at 8:30am AEDT, just two hours after United
States President George W Bush phoned Mr Howard to formally request Australian
military support for the imminent attack.
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- "[Mr Bush] asked whether Australia would be part
of the 'coalition of the willing' if it became necessary to finally use
force against Iraq to enforce Iraq's obligations under previously passed
Security Council resolutions," Mr Howard said.
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- "He's obviously very grateful for the understanding
and the support that Australia has given, he understands very much the
weight of the responsibility of this decision on his shoulders and on the
shoulders of the British Prime Minister and also myself."
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- Federal Opposition leader Simon Crean says the war is
wrong and Australia should have no part in it.
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- "The Prime Minister has committed us to war because
the US President has asked him to. It's not in Australia's national interests
and there is an alternative way," he said.
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- "The Prime Minister has recklessly committed us
to the 'coalition of the willing' from which he has no way out."
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- Mr Howard says Parliament will debate the issue this
afternoon, when he will table the Government's legal advice on the war.
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- Human shields
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- The Foreign Affairs department estimates there are six
Australians still in Iraq, offering themselves as human shields in the
hope of preventing a war.
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- On Sunday, the department advised Australians in Iraq,
Kuwait and Israel to leave immediately.
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- It says those who stay in Iraq could be taken hostage.
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- But the department's Julie McDonald is concerned some
Australians will ignore the warning.
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- "As far as we understand, there are six who are
there as human shields," she said.
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- "The numbers are changing, some are coming in, some
are coming out, and none of these Australian human shields have registered
with our embassy in Jordan, our nearest embassy, so it's very hard to keep
track of them, but we do ask all Australians in Iraq to leave now while
they still can."
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- An Adelaide woman based near the Iraqi capital Baghdad
says she will not be leaving despite the growing likelihood of war.
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- Local councillor Ruth Russell entered Iraq about a month
ago to join others hoping to deter attacks on humanitarian sites, such
as hospitals and food storage facilities.
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- She says people have come from all over the world in
the name of peace.
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- "It's just been overwhelming, the amount of people
from every single country that is coming to support Iraq and say that this
is wrong."
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- <http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm>© 2003
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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- This service may include material from Agence France-Presse
(AFP), AAP (International), APTN, Reuters, CNN and the BBC World Service
which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
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