New Zealand military chief to attend anti-IS talks

New Zealand's highest ranking military officer is set to attend a meeting of defence chiefs of the anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition.

Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating Monday said that he would travel to Saudi Arabia Tuesday to attend the meeting scheduled Feb 18 to 19 in Riyadh, Xinhua reported.

The meeting is one of a series of meetings being held for coalition chiefs of defence to discuss the situation regarding the IS terror group.

"The New Zealand government has made no decisions about a possible defence force involvement in Iraq, but it makes sense that there's a New Zealand representation at such a meeting," Keating said.

"The meeting will be a good opportunity to receive updates on the situation."

The New Zealand government announced Feb 10 that New Zealand troops had begun contingency training for deployment in Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari officially requested New Zealand's military assistance in the fight against IS during a visit to Auckland Friday during talks with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Prime Minister John Key and Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Key has repeatedly ruled out New Zealand troops being involved in combat, and said that if troops were sent they would only train the Iraqi forces.