PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Oct 13: Key Muslim countries on Monday ruled out sending troops to help the United States in Iraq without a UN mandate, leaving Turkey isolated at the meetings of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Washington has asked Islamabad, Dhaka and Ankara to deploy soldiers to ease the burden on US forces confronting mounting opposition in Iraq, but only Turkey has agreed.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told AFP Pakistan did “not want to be perceived as an extension of the occupation force.”

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan would only send troops under a United Nations banner and if other Muslim nations agreed to participate.

Bangladesh, a regular contributor of peacekeeping troops around the world, echoed Pakistan’s position with Foreign Minister Morshed Khan telling reporters that Dhaka would only send troops “if the UN gets a central role under the UN blue helmets.”

And Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who is due at the OIC summit, said during a visit to Singapore on Monday that no troops from Turkey or other neighbouring countries should be involved in Iraq.

The king said Iraq’s neighbours were incapable of being “honest” if their military forces were sent in to help the United States conduct peacekeeping operations.

Turkey’s decision to send up to 10,000 troops for a maximum of a year has already drawn fire from the US-appointed Governing Council in Iraq, which fears the presence of a neighbouring army could destabilise domestic politics.

An Arab diplomat attending the OIC conference said that while Turkey’s decision was not formally on the table here, an overwhelming majority of states would oppose the deployment without a United Nations mandate.

The conference, the biggest Muslim gathering since 9/11, is taking place amid tight security in Malaysia’s new administrative capital of Putrajaya south of Kuala Lumpur.—AFP