WASHINGTON, April 15: The United States is tapping military resources in South Asia and the Middle East for troops to join a UN-sponsored peace force in Iraq, officials said on Thursday.

US policy planners are expecting large contributions from South Asia, the home to some of the world's largest armies, while the Middle East is being looked at because the planners feel the Arab participation, even if symbolic, will help.

US requests for troops from the Arab and Muslim worlds in the past were not very productive as even close US allies were reluctant to send troops to confront Iraqis.

But statements issued in Washington and some of the Muslim capitals during the last two days indicate a change in the US approach. Instead of asking for troops to backup US forces, the Bush administration is now seeking troops to help the United Nations operate in Iraq after the June 30 transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government.

"There will be a security requirement to help the United Nations operate there. And we have talked to ... a number of other countries about their willingness to help with that," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington.

In Islamabad, a spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, Masood Khan, said Pakistan would consider the US request seriously after the transfer of power to the Iraqi people.

Mr Boucher said President Pervez Musharraf was among several world leaders Secretary of State Colin Powell called this week, adding that most of these calls were about the Middle East. He counted the foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia among those Powell called to discuss the situation.