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Iraq crisis: UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon offers tacit backing to Australian arms airlift

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has given tacit backing to the Federal Government's plan to airlift weapons to Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State in northern Iraq.

The Government has been defending its plan to use Australian transport planes to deliver the arms and munitions, with frontbencher Scott Morrison saying the plan has been agreed to in coordination with Iraq's government.

At a media conference in Auckland today, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon thanked nations which he said were taking decisive action to address the security threat posed by Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq.

"Without addressing this issue through certain means, including some military and counter-terrorist actions, we will just end up allowing these terrorist activities to continue," he said.

Meanwhile, Iraq's ambassador to Australia has backed down from comments criticising the plan to arm Kurdish troops.

Yesterday, ambassador Mouayed Saleh said weapons should be delivered to the central Iraqi government in Baghdad, not directly to the Kurds in northern Iraq.

He now says he was misquoted, saying protocol has been followed.

"Everything is obtained, all the proper approvals from the central government," he said. "There is no issue there."

Airlift still on track to begin later this week; US airstrikes continue

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the arms shipments, which will see Australian planes land in Baghdad before travelling on to the Kurdish capital Erbil, will begin "in coming days".

Mr Abbott also defended the actions of US president Barack Obama, who has committed US warplanes to the ongoing battle to hold off Islamic State fighters who have seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.

"He hasn't been trigger happy, he hasn't rushed in, he has been very careful about this," he told Macquarie Radio.

"I think that's to his credit because the last thing I think anyone would want to do is rush into another difficult conflict in the Middle East."

Speaking to 7.30 last night, Mr Morrison said he was hopeful the arms shipment would help Kurdish Peshmerga forces defend themselves against the Islamic State.

"It is being done in coordination in partnership with the government of Iraq in accordance with proper processes to ensure that we can assist those who are trying to stop the murderous advance that we are seeing in Iraq," he said.

"I think the initial attempt here is to shore them up in the positions where they are and to stop the incursions that could obviously flow if they were to fall. I think that's fairly self-evident.

"The Government is not getting ahead of itself. We're taking this one step at a time and acting in a proportioned and sober way."

US Central Command said US jets had continued their bombardment of IS positions around the Mosul Dam on Sunday and Monday (local time).

"The strikes destroyed three ISIL trucks, severely damaged another, destroyed an ISIL armed vehicle, and destroyed a mortar position near the Mosul Dam," the military said in a statement.

"All aircraft exited the strike area safely."

'We are facing a terrorist monster' says Iraqi minister

Speaking in New Zealand this morning, Mr Ban said it was important for the UN Security Council to discuss ways in which the international community could act in a more concerted way.

But he said "when a situation really blows out," as in Iraq, it is "really important to contain the further spread of political instability and security instability".

His comments came after the UN agreed to send investigators to Iraq to examine crimes being committed by IS on "an unimaginable scale", with a view to holding perpetrators to account.

"We are facing a terrorist monster," Iraq's human rights minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani told the UN Human Rights Council, which adopted a resolution tabled by Iraq and France at an emergency sitting of the 47-member state forum in Geneva.

The Council aims to send 11 investigators, with a total budget of $US1.18 million, to report back by March 2015.

IS militants have driven more than 1.2 million people from their homes this year, according to the UN. At least 1,420 people were killed in sectarian violence in Iraq in August alone.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri said there was "strong evidence" both Islamist fighters and Iraqi government forces have killed civilians and committed atrocities in the past three months of fighting.

"The reports we have received reveal acts of inhumanity on an unimaginable scale," she said.