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Prime Minister Helen Clark has rejected claims by opposition parties that the government's policy on Iraq, and her comments about the war, will damage New Zealand's long-term international interests.
National Party leader Bill English on Sunday accused Clark of showing a "reckless disregard" for the future by criticizing US President George W. Bush's administration and suggesting Iraq's President Saddam Hussein may never be captured.
The Sunday Star-Times quoted "well placed sources from the US" as saying the American administration was becoming increasingly agitated about New Zealand's position, and said hopes for a free trade agreement with the United States had been dealt a blow.
New Zealand Press Association on Sunday quoted Clark as saying, "the reality is that international relations in general have been shattered by this (war on Iraq)."
"I think it's infantile to try to say that because people have a position of principle and integrity which doesn't support this war at this time it's anti-American."
Clark said she believed the case New Zealand was making for a free trade agreement with the United States was a very strong one.
"That will stand on its own merits. What I'm not prepared to do is commit troops to a conflict that the government doesn't believe is justified in order to get some material pay-off," she said.
"I think we would stand ridiculed in the eyes of the public if we did that, and I don't think anyone would expect us to," Clark said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2003)
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