18 May 2004	Tuesday	27 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 17: A UN delegation to seek Pakistani troops for likely peace-keeping duty in Iraq, is expected to arrive here in near future for talks with government officials.

Foreign Office spokesman Masood A. Khan said in response to a question at his weekly press briefing on Monday that a similar UN delegation for seeking Pakistan's response to the proposed multinational UN peacekeeping force had visited Islamabad in October 2003 and the issue had been revived with an impending UN Security Council resolution.

Pakistani officials in New York and UN officials concerned have been deliberating on the issue in view of UN Security Council's decision expected this month.

Elaborating his reply to the question, the spokesman said: "It is not clear at the moment if the UN is indeed setting up its mission in Iraq in the light of a report from UN envoy to Iraq Lakhdare Brahimi.

Islamabad, he said, would consider whether to send troops after the UN decides to establish its mission. He however, recalled that Pakistan had already stipulated certain conditions before agreeing to send its troops.

Among the stipulated conditions, he said, Pakistan had stated that prior to its consent to the UN request for troops, it would like to be assured that the troops would be deployed for the protection and security of the proposed UN mission in Baghdad, that the troops would be welcomed by the Iraqi people and as also by Iraq's neighbouring states.

While Pakistan was awaiting the text of the resolution to be tabled after the ongoing discussions in New York, Mr Khan said it was hoped that the elements of the proposed UN resolution would meet aspirations of Iraqi people to regain the sovereignty of their land and clarify what would be the command structure of the proposed force and what political process would be followed by the UN to resolve nearly a year-long Iraq conflict and crisis.

In the meantime, Pakistan would monitor the situation which has already become very grave.