Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that his country was willing to send troops to Iraq, but only under a fresh UN mandate that included forces from other Muslim nations.
Following an address to the UN General Assembly and talks with US President George W. Bush, Musharraf told reporters that Pakistan would wait to see the substance of any new resolution on Iraq adopted by the UN Security Council.
Pakistan is one of several key countries the US has approached to send troops to Iraq but along with others has balked at the contribution unless the UN approves it.
"The domestic environment [in Pakistan] under the current circumstances is totally opposed to sending troops to Iraq," Musharraf said, adding that Pakistan would require a level of "comfort" before committing to any deployment.
"If a new resolution caters for a multinational force and also a number of Muslim countries are there to contribute ... that is the comfort one is desiring in Pakistan," he said.
"At the end of the day, we would like to send Pakistan forces not to be seen as an extension of occupation, but to be seen as a force that has gone there for the welfare of the people of Iraq."
Musharraf also insisted that Bush had applied "no pressure" over the troop-deployment issue during their talks and said the US president "absolutely understands" Pakistan's domestic obligations.
In June, Musharraf said he would be willing to send Pakistani troops to Iraq provided it was under the auspices of the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference or the Gulf Cooperation Council.
His position ignited controversy in Pakistan where Islamic political parties reacted with outrage.
Musharraf is one of Washington's closest allies in the global war on terrorism but opposed the US-led war on Iraq.
Pakistan is also one of 10 elected members of the UN Security Council, which will soon take up a US-proposed resolution to give the world body more of a say in Iraq.
In his address to the General Assembly, Musharraf said the Iraqi people needed the full support of the international community, including Iraq's neighbors and the Arab and Islamic countries.
"Iraq cannot be allowed to remain an open wound," he said. "This will impact on the region and could inject a new dimension to the campaign against terrorism and extremism."
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in