Aussies ’on secret ops in Iraq’

AUSTRALIAN troops are conducting secret operations in Iraq that go far beyond the role revealed to the Australian public or the Opposition, according to a newspaper report today.

Between 30 and 40 specially-trained troops are involved in a US-led program that covers the full range of special operations, including counter-insurgency, kidnapping, demolition and protecting visiting VIPs, The Australian Financial Review says.

More than 200 personnel are known to be involved in back-up roles in the Middle East and Australia.

Sources in Australia, the US and France have confirmed the activities of the special operations group, the report says.

The Government said the majority of troops, including a Special Air Service squadron, were withdrawn from Iraq last May.

It has not announced that other SAS members were later seconded to a special operations group.

The paper says the program raises new questions about whether the Government has been honest with the public about what Australian troops are doing in Iraq and whether the previously undisclosed role helps or harms national security.

The program also complicates Labor’s promise to bring troops home by Christmas, the newspaper says.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10594350%255E1702,00.html