WASHINGTON, Sept 28: The United States will have a new resolution on Iraq ready for the UN Security Council within two days but is not counting on getting large numbers of foreign troops, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday.

Mr Powell also defended the US administration against mounting criticism of its justification for the Iraq war.

“Within the next two days we’ll come up with a second version of the resolution, based on the consultations we had last week, we’ll get to share that with our friends on the Security Council,” he told ABC television.

“I can’t tell you when the resolution will be passed, I’m anxious to move quickly because we have the donors’ conference coming up at the end of October.”

Mr Powell said: “I would not suggest that we’re going to get a huge number of troops. There aren’t that many countries around with standing armies that are able to dispatch large formations around the world.”

He said the United States had to be prepared to use its reserves.

He said other countries “are waiting to see what the resolution looks like, they have not yet made a commitment.”

The secretary of state said there were “serious conversations” with Turkey and the topic had also been raised with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.

“The South Koreans have also expressed their interest in the idea. So there are some nations around.”—AFP