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Saudi FM says

Muslim troops would replace US-led forces in Iraq

AFP, Riyadh
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said yesterday that any Muslim troops dispatched to Iraq would be sent to replace US-led multinational forces and not to supplement them as proposed by Washington.
"The dispatching of Muslim troops to Iraq needs a number of requirements to be met, (including) that these troops would be replacing the coalition forces currently there, not supplementing them," Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters.
He also said that troops should be sent only at Baghdad's request and work under the auspices of the United Nations.
"The request should come from the Iraqi government and should have a full and apparent backing
from all parts of the Iraqi people ... (These troops) should work under the auspices ofthe UN," he said.
Prince Saud discussed the Saudi idea to send Muslim troops to Iraq with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi while they both visited the kingdom last week.
"The UN should be in charge of the political process in Iraq including the preparation for elections to choose a new government," said Saud, whose comments to the press were carried by state television.
Both Powell and Allawi said that Iraq's immediate neighbours would not be asked to participate in such a deployment.
"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," said the Iraqi premier.
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," he stressed.
A senior US official accompanying Powell to the kingdom 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.