UK To Send Machine Guns And Ammo To Iraq

Britain is sending £1.6m of military kit, including heavy machine guns, to Iraq to help fight Islamic State militants.

Announcing the decision in a written statement, Michael Fallon, the Secretary of State for Defence, said the equipment would be used for "alleviating the humanitarian suffering of those Iraqis" targeted by IS terrorists, also known as ISIL and ISIS.

Mr Fallon said the move followed a request from the Iraq government and would include the Kurdish regional government.

"The Kurdish forces remain significantly less well equipped than ISIL and we are responding to help them defend themselves, protect citizens and push back ISIL advances," he said.

PKK fighters in Turkey last year

However, there have been concerns that the weaponry could end up in the hands of the paramilitary group the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year insurgency in neighbouring Turkey in an attempt to establish a separate Kurdish state.

The PKK is on the UK Government's proscribed list and is also considered a terrorist organisation by the US, the European Union and Nato.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cvusolglu, said: "The weapons sent (to Iraq) should not end up in the hands of terrorist organisations. They should not end up in the hands of the PKK."

He added that Turkey had voiced its concerns during the Nato summit in Wales last week and said: "It may not be possible to control where these weapons will go."

The decades-long insurgency in the southeast of Turkey has cost 40,000 lives. 

Iraq's new Prime Minister Haider al Abadi

There had been speculation Britain could join US-led airstrikes against IS fighters in Iraq, however, David Cameron has promised a House of Commons vote before direct military intervention.

On Monday Barack Obama held talks with Iraq's new Prime Minister Haider al Abadi to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants.

Iraq's parliament has now officially named Mr al Abadi as the country's Prime Minister and approved most of his proposed candidates for cabinet roles, including members of the country's minority Sunni and Kurdish communities.

The West has been pushing Iraq for a more representative government that will ease anger among Sunnis who felt marginalised by former prime minister Nouri al Maliki and his administration.

The anger among Sunnis has helped to fuel the seizure of territory by the IS across much of north and western Iraq since June.

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