Iraq action: Australia 'keen to play its part'
Julie Bishop at the NATO summit in Newport, Wales.
Newport, Wales: The US is drawing together a coalition of nations for new military action in Iraq, including air strikes against the Islamic State extremists, and Australia is ready to play its part, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says.
"We are keen to play our part in ensuring that this heightened terrorist risk to Australia can be tackled head-on," Ms Bishop said.
The Australian military are already drawing up contingency plans to send forces into the region to deal with the global threat posed by Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
However before the government gives final approval it wants to see who is in the coalition and get a firm timetable and clear objectives for the proposed air strikes so "we know what success looks like", Defence Minister David Johnston said.
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The plan will be drawn up over the next few weeks.
Ms Bishop and Mr Johnston spent Thursday and Friday in meetings with allies at the biennial NATO summit in Wales.
One issue that dominated formal and bilateral meetings at the summit was the "sudden and bloody emergence of ISIL as a terrorist organisation that not only has an impact in the Middle East but also globally," Ms Bishop said.
At a meeting on Friday morning of foreign and defence ministers, Ms Bishop spoke of her concerns about Australian fighters leaving to carry out "brutal, bloody terrorist activities in Syria and Iraq".