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Pak opposition in senate opposes sending troops to Iraq

IRNA

Islamabad, Sept 30, IRNA - The combined opposition in Pakistan`s 
Senate (Upper House of the Parliament) on Tuesday in unequivocal 
terms opposed sending of Pakistani troops to Iraq. 
"We are against dispatching our forces to Iraq under US command 
to defend their (American) personnel, facing death at the hands of 
Iraqis," the leaders of different opposition parties said here at 
the Parliament House. 
The opposition leaders told a news conference that if at all it 
was necessary, the matter should be brought in the Parliament and 
after a thorough discussion, the chamber must take a decision whether 
r not Pakistani troops should go to Iraq. 
"It should be solely the prerogative of the elected 
representatives to decide such highly sensitive matters," they 
argued, citing President General Pervez Musharraf`s statement that 
Islamabad might dispatch troops to the war-devastated country. 
Our forces, the opposition leaders contended, were not supposed 
to protect the invaders but to contribute to establishment of peace 
and stability. 
The leaders supported the Iraqi people`s right to offer 
resistance to defend their motherland, adding Pakistani forces must 
not be made part of a campaign to crush this resistance. 
The Pakistani Senate had passed a unanimous resolution at the 
threshold of US-led invasion of Iraq, strongly deploring the 
operation against the Muslim country. 
Like several other countries, huge anti-war rallies were 
staged in different Pakistani cities, dubbing the US as a 
`terrorist` state. 
The resolution had advocated exploring peaceful means to 
settle the Iraq crisis instead of use of coercive methods. 
There are some opposition groups that oppose deployment of 
Pakistani troops to Iraq even under the United Nations umbrella, 
saying it would be tantamount to helping the aggressors. 
General Musharraf has declared Pakistan could contribute 
forces to `peacekeeping` efforts in Iraq if the United Nations 
or Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) takes the responsibility 
in this connection. 
/MHA/TSH/213 
End