JEDDAH, 2 August 2004 — Saudi Arabia yesterday set conditions for the deployment of Muslim troops in Iraq and emphasized that they would replace US-led multinational forces and not supplement them as suggested by Washington.
“The dispatching of Muslim troops to Iraq needs a number of requirements to be met, (including) that these troops would be replacing the coalition forces currently there, not supplementing them,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told a news conference here after talks on the plan with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
He also said that troops should be sent only at Baghdad’s request and work under the auspices of the United Nations.
“The request should come from the Iraqi government and should have a full and apparent backing from all Iraqi people ... (These troops) should work under the auspices of the United States,” the minister explained.
Prince Saud had discussed the idea to send Muslim troops to Iraq with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi when the two visited the Kingdom last week.
“The UN should be in charge of the political process in Iraq including the preparation for elections to choose a new government,” said the prince, whose comments to the press were carried by state television.
Both Powell and Allawi said that Iraq’s immediate neighbors would not be asked to participate in such a deployment. “We will study the suggestion and we continue to discuss it with leaders of Arab and Muslim states, excluding neighboring countries, to participate in the multinational force,” said the Iraqi premier.
Allawi also said Iraq was seeking assistance from friendly states to stem the flow of funds to insurgents, saying the time had come for a “strong and clear stand” against terror.
According to Powell, “many” Muslim countries have been considering participating in the force. A senior US official accompanying Powell to the Kingdom said the idea was not to replace the current US-led force comprising troops from some 30 countries, but to have a “supplemental” force.
Prince Saud said the Muslim force would be sent to Iraq to restore the country’s security and stability. “These won’t be fighting or invading troops but to help serve the Iraqi people so that they return to a normal life. This would also require that coalition forces withdraw from Iraq,” he said.
“This proposal responds to demands by many Muslim nations that coalition forces quit Iraq,” he said, adding that it was part of the Kingdom’s efforts to help Iraq regain its sovereignty.
Prince Saud said the proposal was not “a conspiracy” hatched in coordination with the United States. “If they have a better proposal let them present it. We know our intention and we believe that the proposal is in the interest of the Iraqi people,” he said.
The proposal, which has met a cool response so far, was for troops from Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria, Bangladesh and Morocco to help quell unrest in Iraq.
A militant group has already rejected the idea and threatened to retaliate against contributors.
Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said his country has no intention of sending troops to Iraq, according to official media reports yesterday.
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said the proposal would be feasible only if coalition forces first withdrew, because the danger was that if Arab and Muslim troops went now they would be seen as shoring up US-led troops and therefore part of the occupying force, state media reported.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Al-Qaroobi also said yesterday coalition forces must leave first and that Sanaa would send troops only under a UN-Arab League umbrella.
Referring to Saudi prisoners in Guantanamo, Prince Saud said Riyadh would make all-out efforts to defend the interests of all Saudis.
“We are in contact with the US on the Saudi prisoners in Guantanamo and follow up their case on a daily basis,” he added.
He hoped the prisoners would be released soon. “We believe that they have stayed long in the prison and it is high time they were handed over to their respective countries,” he said.
Prince Saud denounced the Israeli government plan to establish a large Jewish settlement in the eastern part of Jerusalem and urged immediate intervention of the international community to stop Israel’s aggressive policies and prevent escalation of things.
Asked why there was no official statement on the Libyan plot to assassinate the Saudi crown prince, the minister said security agencies would announce their findings after the completion of investigations.
