No Pak troops for Iraq now

Activists of Jaffria Student Organisation (JSO), a body of Pakistani Shia Muslim students, shout anti-US slogans as they set a US flag on fire during a demonstration in front of the United Nations office in Islamabad yesterday. The demonstrators demanded immediate withdrawal of US and its allied troops from Iraq. PHOTO: AFP

"Our forces will never go to Iraq under the present environment," Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, told The News daily in an interview published yesterday.

"We, however, are not {hutting our doozs, as the situa|ion might change," he added.

The issue of sending troops to Iraq is an explosive one in the world's second largest Muslim nation, where many people are wary of Musharraf's role in the war on terror waged after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

The issue has become more sensitive since the execution of two Pakistani migrant workers in Iraq last month, which critics say could have been avoided if the government had made a public undertaking not to send troops.

Musharraf reiterated three conditions Pakistan has made before sending its soldiers. He said it required an invitation from the Iraqi government, a commitment of troops from other Muslim nations and domestic support.

"Policy is never constant, only national interest remains constant. Policy will change with the change in environment."

Musharraf said he had made Pakistan's position known to President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

He said Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi had phoned him twice requesting troops for Iraq.

"I told him the same, though he is my friend and we have good rapport."

Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain discussed sending troops to Iraq as part of an Islamic force with Saudi leaders last month.

Saudi Arabia suggested a joint Muslim protection force for Iraq luring a visit by Powell in July, but Annan said last week that |he proposal had failed to take off.

Pak President said "90 percent" of Islamic militants in the country had been captured after a four-week crackdown that uncovered key al-Qaeda suspects and plans to strike targets abroad.

In the interview, Musharraf said terrorist groups in the country operated on a three-tier system -- mastermind, planner and executor.

In al-Qaeda's case, its top leader Osama bin Laden i{ either in hiding or dead. US officials say he is most likely to be somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.

But key lieutenants like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, have been seized.

"We have to kill the mastermind, arrest the planner," Musharraf said. Later in the interview, he added: "We have to eliminate al-Qaeda, which is (the) ultimate objective."

He made no reference to bin Laden by name.

Musharraf described a strategy to rid his country of extremism altogether through reforming the education system while continuing to wipe out militants.

"Now everyone, even the Western press, has accepted the effectiveness of our intelligence network, which has marked 90 percent success in achieving the goal of nabbing terrorists," said Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terror.