US, UN request under study: FO - Pakistani troops for Iraq
By H.A.
ISLAMABAD, April 19: Though Pakistan has been approached by the United Nations and the United States for army troops for duty in Iraq, it has not sent any troops yet nor made any commitment.
The UN request, a foreign office spokesman said on Monday, was still under consideration.
Addressing the weekly Foreign Office press briefing, the spokesman, in reply to questions, reaffirmed that so far Pakistan had received from the UN a request for Pakistani troops for the protection of its mission in Iraq when it was established. Pakistan would respond to it after due deliberations, he said and added "we have not as yet said yes or no to the UN request."
Spokesman Masood Khan insisted that Pakistan's response would be in accordance with it policy of deployment under the UN flag and that it would be in accordance with its people's aspirations keeping in view Islamabad's close relations with the people of Iraq and the Arab states as a whole.
The spokesman did not respond to the question whether it was considering a US request for troops to muster support for a wider military operation in Iraq, and reiterated it would be in accordance with the policy which had been time and again enunciated by the president and foreign minister.
He said Pakistan would take a decision about sending its troops keeping in view the Pakistani people's aspirations as well as the response of the Iraqi people. Pakistani troops should be welcomed as friendly guests by the Iraqi people if and when they go.
Replying to another question, the spokesman asserted that Pakistan had "very good and very close relations and understanding with the United States of America. Both governments had strategic convergence notwithstanding tactical divergences some times.
But the most important thing was that both the nations attached great importance to a very strong vibrant relationship. They both had their political will behind the relationship though irritants cropped up between them from time to time because of officials' statements. On such occasions, Pakistan had its responsibility to put the record straight in its responses."
When asked whether the recent India-Pakistan cricket test series was related to Indian politics and to Prime Minister Vajpayee's attempt to return to power in the general elections, the spokesman asked Pakistanis not to feel squeamish about losing the test rubber, pointing out that the Pakistan team had also won several encounters during the series.
He said that he believed that the cricket matches made a very good contribution to bilateral relations and hoped that Pakistan would have learnt its lesson from the defeat and would try to win the next fixture.
Responding to another question, the spokesman emphasised that Pakistan had always supported the Arab people on the issue of Palestine and strongly condemned all targeted assassinations such as those of the Hamas leaders.
Such killings and extra-judicial deaths caused the Middle East process to derail. He said Pakistan would like these wanton destructions of life and property to end so that the peace process in the Middle East may be put back on track.
