US, Iraq oppose Saudi plan for all-Muslim force
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-19 11:33

The Iraqi government and U.S. military commanders both rejected a Saudi plan for an all-Muslim force to protect U.N. election staff in Iraq, the White House said on Monday.

"The Iraqi interim government had some real concerns about having troops from a neighboring country inside Iraq. The multinational commanders also had some concerns about forces operating outside the chain of command structure," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, commenting on a media report.

New York daily Newsday reported on Monday that U.S. President George W. Bush rebuffed the Saudi initiative because the force would not have been under U.S. command.

Such a move would raise questions about the Bush administration's repeated assertions that it was eager to have other countries send troops to Iraq to ease the burden on American forces, it said.

Saudi Arabia announced it hoped to organize such a force in July during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

But several Muslim countries, including Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan were cool to the idea, citing the increasing violence in Iraq as well as concerns about possibly having to serve under U.S. command.

The United Nations was also uncertain whether it wanted its staff protected by a force of one religious group rather than its usual multilateral approach, U.N. sources said.

But Newsday said Crown Prince Abdullah personally lobbied Bush to agree to deploy a unit of several hundred troops from Muslim nations to help prepare for January elections.

Washington, the newspaper said, turned down the proposal because the plan would have meant troops being under U.N. control rather than the control of U.S. commanders who lead the multinational force now intended to ensure security in Iraq.

The question of control "was a serious issue for the commanders of the multinational force," Newsday quoted an unnamed White House spokesman as saying.

A senior U.S. administration official in Washington blamed the Iraqi government for the plan's failure, saying it did not want troops from neighboring countries deployed inside Iraq.

In addition, the plan contained no real commitment by other Arab nations to contribute troops to the force, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But Iraqi officials said they had already worked out a deal with the Saudis ruling out the involvement of any Iraqi neighbor, Newsday said.

The Saudi crown prince discussed the plan with Bush by telephone on July 28, the newspaper said.

In Riyadh, a Saudi government official said he was unaware the plan had been blocked. His government's role had been confined to making the proposal in July, the official said.

The United Nations is under heavy pressure from the United States, Iraq and other countries to send senior staff for the Iraq elections, due by Jan. 30. All international staff were pulled out last year after two bomb attacks on U.N. Baghdad headquarters in Baghdad.

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