ISLAMABAD, 15 April 2004 — Pakistan said yesterday it was considering a US request to send troops to Iraq. Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Islamabad received the request from Washington last week. “We are considering it,” he told a news briefing.
He said Pakistan’s decision would take into account the security situation in Iraq and other issues.
“We continue to monitor the situation in Iraq and of course peace and stability there are primary concerns,” he said.
“We would be guided by the evolution of events in Iraq and by our stated position on sending troops to Iraq.”
However, he said if Pakistan did send its troops there “it would not be something like a peacekeeping force, but a small number of dedicated contingents to protect UN missions.”
Khan said Washington had asked for a “small number” of troops but declined to give further details. Sending troops to Iraq is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf faces strong opposition from hard-line groups for supporting the US-led war in neighboring Afghanistan.
The spokesman reiterated Islamabad’s call for returning the governance of Iraq to its people to avoid the increasing number of casualties in the war-torn country.
“We are concerned at the number of casualties and it should come to an end,” Masood Khan said. He called for all efforts to bring Iraq back to normalcy and stability.
“Governance should be transferred to the people of Iraq so that we do not have the environment in which such casualties take place,” he stressed.
About Pakistan’s bid to be a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Masood Khan said it had requested India not to block its entry into the (ARF) — the only security grouping in the region.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had last year endorsed Pakistan’s membership to the forum but it was later blocked by India on technical grounds.
Khan told reporters in Islamabad that Pakistan has approached all member countries and also requested India “very recently” not to block Pakistan’s entry into ARF.
