World | Australia
Australia admits it is in Iraq for oil
Australia's defence minister has admitted that oil is one of the reasons for its presence in Iraq.
- Agencies
- Published: 11:20 July 5, 2007
Canberra: Australia's defence minister has admitted that oil is one of the reasons for its presence in Iraq.
The admission came at the launch of an official review of the country's national security policy which was published on Thursday morning.
Speaking on Australian radio, he said: "For these reasons in particular ... , one of which is energy security, it is extremely important that Australia take the view that it's in ... our security interests to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security.
"The Middle East itself - not only Iraq - is an
important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world, and Australians need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq," he added.
The minister told Australian Broadcasting Corporation that
there were also humanitarian reasons for staying in IUraq.
He said that they wanted to make sure "a humanitarian crisis does not develop between Sunnis and Shiites."
Australia was one of the countries involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and still has around 1,000 soldiers in Iraq.
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