WASHINGTON, July 5: Pakistani soldiers are likely to form part of the first international force of two divisions expected to arrive in Iraq by the end of this month, diplomatic sources told Dawn on Saturday.

But Pakistan will not be the only Muslim country to participate in this force. Troops from some Arab nations bordering Iraq will also be included, the sources added.

The United States has asked 70 nations to contribute to the stabilisation force it is trying to setup to relieve the nearly 150,000 American troops deployed there.

Four nations are already involved inside Iraq and another six have agreed to join, says US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Negotiations with 14 other nations have entered the final stage while another 15 to 20 nations have said they are willing to discuss sending troops, he added.

Speaking with ABC News after meeting with President George Bush at Camp David last week, President Pervez Musharraf said as many as 8,000 Pakistani troops could be deployed in Iraq.

He also said that international troops should stay in Iraq until a US-supported Iraqi government is formed and is strong enough to run the country on its own.

He later said that Pakistan would strongly prefer not being the only Muslim nation to send troops to Iraq.

“We would much prefer that there is a cover, maybe a United Nations cover or an OIC cover or even GCC,” Gen. Musharraf told a news conference in Paris on Friday before leaving for Pakistan at the end of his four-nation tour that took him to Britain, the United States, Germany and France.