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| Saturday, 25 September 2004 |
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Musharraf snubs pleas for Pakistani troops in Iraq UNITED NATIONS, Friday (Reuters) Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ruled out sending troops to help restore stability in Iraq, rebuffing pleas from the Iraqi interim government and the United States. "As far as Pakistan is concerned, our domestic environment is not conducive. It continues to be not conducive. We cannot be seen as an extension of the present forces there," Musharraf said. In a wide-ranging news conference, he said too much attention was being paid to whether he retained his army chief title while progress on other issues was being ignored. Ahead of a key meeting on Friday with India's new prime minister, Musharraf said he would bring no specific proposals but hoped the two leaders would develop a relationship and "judge each other's intentions." Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Tuesday he had pressed Musharraf to contribute troops to the U.S.-led multinational force fighting an insurgency in his country. The United States and the United Nations also encouraged Pakistan to contribute to a force to protect U.N. staff in Iraq, diplomats said. But Musharraf said Pakistani troops did not want to be seen as occupation forces, "so our going there now will be totally counterproductive." Given the realities in Iraq, with an interim government preparing for elections, "security forces should come from Iraq itself," he said. "That itself will be the best option of substituting the U.S. and British forces to withdraw from their high visibility, handing over to Iraqi local forces, and then ultimately working out an exit strategy after an elected government also comes on the ground," Musharraf said. |
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