Iraqi PM backs Muslim force plan & Powell welcomes sending of Muslim troops to Iraq

The Guardian ^ | 29 Jul 04 | Agencies

[xzins]

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, (left) and the Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi. Photograph: Bilal Qabalan/Getty Images
 

Ayad Allawi today welcomed Saudi Arabia's US-backed proposals to help build a joint force of Muslim nations to establish security in Iraq.

The Iraqi prime minister was speaking a day after more than 100 people were killed in a series of suicide attacks - the deadliest bout of violence since his interim government took over power from the US authorities.

After holding talks with the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, Mr Allawi said Muslim countries must close ranks against "those gangs, those terrorists and those criminals" he said were threatening the Arab world.

"The leaders of this region must unify and must stand as one group," he told a news conference, warning that, if the insurgency in Iraq were to prevail, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon would not be safe.

The announcement came as Saudi officials said the kingdom was normalising relations with Iraq for the first time since Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the Iraqi planning minister, Mehdi al-Hafidh, said the Saudi government had agreed to fulfil a £550m aid pledge, money which he said his government could begin using immediately for development projects.

Under the Saudi proposal, Arab and Muslim countries that do not border Iraq would be invited to contribute to the security force. Iraq believes involvement in its security by its direct neighbours could ultimately lead to political conflict with them.

"We look forward to the contribution of the Arab and the Islamic states with the exception of the neighbouring states," Mr Allawi said.

The interim prime minister, who is on a regional tour, has asked Arab and Islamic nations to contribute troops to protect a UN mission in the country. So far the Muslim contribution to US-led forces in Iraq has been scant.

Mr Powell welcomed the Saudi initiative, saying that that the time could be right for Arab and Muslim countries to take a more active role, following the handover of sovereignty to Mr Allawi's government and the approval of a UN security council resolution giving legitimacy to it.

"They now have a sovereign government that is up and running," Mr Powell said. "Based on that, there will be more intensive discussions on the basis of the Saudi initiative to see if more countries are willing to provide support."

Malaysia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Morocco are some of the countries who have been mentioned as possible participants in a security force. Iraqi officials have contacted Pakistan, among many other countries, in recent weeks.

The US has been struggling to hold together its coalition partners against a wave of violent attacks and kidnappings. Already the number of coalition members with troops in Iraq has dropped from 36 to 31 and today the Ukrainian defence ministry said it had begun negotiations to pull its 1,650 troops out of Iraq. Defence ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Bolotniuk said the talks on withdrawal were "probably related" to increased violence in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that a major political conference to plan Iraq's future has been postponed. It was due to start on Saturday but has been put off until next month.

One thousand conference delegates are expected to select a 100-member national council, which will serve as a check on the interim government until elections are held in January.

The UN has been pushing for a postponement, saying more time was needed to make the body truly representative.

First Published 2004-07-29, Last Updated 2004-07-29 12:46:54


Iraq's immediate neighbours will not be asked to participate in such a deployment

 
Powell welcomes sending of Muslim troops to Iraq

 
US Secretary of State, Iraqi PM discuss Saudi proposal to dispatch Arab or Muslim troops to Iraq.

 
By Ali Khalil and Christophe de Roquefeuil - JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia

US and Iraqi officials said here Thursday they were discussing a Saudi proposal to dispatch Arab or Muslim troops to Iraq, either as part of the US-led multinational force or separately.

"We discussed the Saudi initiative. It is an interesting idea, a welcome idea from the Saudi government as to how to generate additional Muslim forces to participate in the work in Iraq," US Secretary of State Colin Powell told a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Powell said such a force would be sent to Iraq "either as part of the coalition or as a separate organisation that would be within the framework of the coalition effort, but would be there perhaps to provide security facilities or provide protection to the United Nations."

The US top diplomat, in Saudi Arabia as part of a Middle East and European tour, said the proposals were at an early stage but had been "welcomed" by the US which would be "examining them in the next few days."

Both Powell and Allawi said that Iraq's immediate neighbours would not be asked to participate in such a deployment.

"For a variety of reasons, it was decided that it would be better if the neighbours of Iraq did not participate in the effort," Powell said.

Powell and Allawi were speaking following talks in the Saudi Red Sea City of Jeddah. Allawi is also on a tour of the Middle East, his first since taking office on June 28, in a bid to normalise ties with Iraq's Arab neighbours.

Allawi also stressed that the force would not include troops from neighbouring Arab countries.

"We will study the suggestion and we continue to discuss it with leaders of Arab and Muslim states, excluding neighbouring countries, to participate in the multinational force," the Iraqi premier said.

"I've written to Arab and Muslim leaders ... I will talk to a few of them in the next few days to establish some common ground," added Allawi.

Powell said Riyadh had "indicated some conditions would have to be met... with respect to the chain of command, arrangements with respect to what the troops would be doing and is it an offset to existing troops in the coalition."

According to Powell, "many" Muslim countries have been considering participating in the force.

"Many of them said they needed to see a UN mandate. Now there is a UN mandate under (Security Council Resolution) 1546. They also said they wished to see a sovereign government. There is a sovereign government that is up and running," the US official stressed.

A senior US official accompanying Powell said the idea was not to replace the current US-led multinational force comprising troops from some 30 countries, but to have a "supplemental" force.

However, a senior Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, hinted that Riyadh saw Muslim troops as a potential replacement for some of the US and other Western forces deployed in Iraq, under sustained attack by insurgents.

The replacement of some of the coalition troops would be positively perceived in the Islamic world, he told reporters.

However, two Pakistani hostages were executed on Wednesday by an Islamist group accusing them of working for US troops in Iraq and demanding Pakistan rescind statements about possibly sending troops to the country.

Powell is due to visit Kuwait, Bosnia and Poland after Saudi Arabia.

Allawi too will stop off in Kuwait as well as in the United Arab Emirates.

Riyadh and Baghdad agreed during Allawi's visit to restore diplomatic ties between their two countries, cut off 13 years ago.

However, both Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Allawi suggested Riyadh's reopening of its embassy in Baghdad hinged on the security situation improving. Allawi said Iraq would reopen its embassy in the kingdom, without saying when.

Ties with Riyadh were broken off by then president Saddam Hussein's regime during the 1991 Gulf War when US-led forces used Saudi Arabia as a springboard to free neighbouring Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

[xzins]

Link for Middle East Online the 2nd article posted

[george wythe]

Mr Allawi said Muslim countries must close ranks against "those gangs, those terrorists and those criminals" he said were threatening the Arab world.

Good news if followed through.

It seems that as American casualties have slowed down, Iraqi civilian casualties have mounted. I hope the neighboring countries send troops and/or policemen to help the Iraqis.

[WOSG]

iraq news PING

[Calpernia]

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200408\FOR20040824b.html

Muslim Malaysia Backs Korea's Troop Deployment to Iraq
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com Pacific Rim Bureau Chief
August 24, 2004

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The government of Malaysia, an influential voice in the Muslim world, is supporting South Korea's decision to send thousands of troops to join the multinational force in Iraq.

During a visit to Seoul, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi expressed "full understanding" of the deployment and said he hoped it would help to bring peace to Iraq, according to presidential spokesman Kim Jong-min.

The endorsement is noteworthy, coming as it does from a government that chairs both the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, a grouping of 116 mostly developing countries.

It may also be another sign the predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian country is shifting its stance under Abdullah, whose predecessor, Mahathir Mohammad, was a leading critic of the West.

Since Mahathir's retirement late last year, relations have warmed between Kuala Lumpur and both the U.S. and Australia.

Last month Abdullah told President Bush during a visit to Washington that Malaysia was prepared to send "a sizable medical team" to Iraq and to do whatever it could to help the post-war reconstruction effort.

Australia, which was another perennial target of Mahathir's stinging criticism, is about to launch its first training program at a new regional counter-terrorism center based in Malaysia.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's decision to send 3,000 troops to Iraq earlier this month in addition to the 660 army engineers and medics already there drew strong protests from some quarters.

Leftist civic organizations that opposed the war and generally espouse anti-U.S. sentiment demonstrated against the move, which makes South Korea the biggest partner in the U.S.-led coalition after Britain.

Roh went ahead with the plan despite the kidnapping and murder of a South Korean civilian who worked for a company that supplies the U.S. military. Terrorists beheaded Kim Sun-il in June after Seoul rejected their demands to scrap the plan to send the troops.

The U.S. and other allies have praised Roh for standing firm under pressure, but South Korea has also been seeking approval for its decision from Muslim nations.

According to Roh's office, Abdullah responded positively when the president asked Malaysia to help Seoul's diplomatic efforts to muster support for the troop dispatch from Islamic and developing nations.

Meanwhile a senior representative of another leading coalition member, Poland, has reiterated the importance of participating nations staying the course in Iraq.

Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, who is visiting South Korea, said his country had no plans to pull its troops out of Iraq early, despite deaths and injuries sustained by Polish forces.

"We should continue this mission, especially in the coming months before the Iraqi elections," Cimoszewicz said Monday. "This is a crucial period. That would be a mistake if anybody withdraws."

Last month the Philippines withdrew its small contingent from Iraq ahead of schedule in exchange for the release of a Filipino civilian kidnapped by terrorists and threatened with death.

Spain's new Socialist government withdrew its 1,300 troops from Iraq shortly after taking office earlier this year.

[Calpernia]

Malaysia Support Update Ping

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1181105/posts?page=5#5

[snooker]

Kerry was for this before he was against it.

[Leatherneck_MT]

The problem with the Arab world is that no matter what you do or who is in charge, they still hate each other. I'm amazed that they have any hatred at all left over for either us or the Jews.

Thank God they can't get passed their petty rivalries to form a real threat to the world. They are far too busy fighting and arguing with each other.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

How did our powerful press become an "ordained" authority? It isn't scriptural, is it? (Matt 7:29)

Our free American reporters continue to bow down to the enemy.

The church continues to surrender territory to the enemy in American communities.

Our blind opposition isn't that brave.

If Christian community leaders wrote letters to the editor, rallied their flocks - would our reporters, political leaders, parents, teenagers find the courage to say "NO" to the jihadists?

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

The more the merrier ~ Bump!