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Pakistan not to send troops to Iraq under present circumstances

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Aug 2, IRNA -- Pakistan said Monday it will not contribute 
troops for Iraq under the present circumstances. 
"The situation in Iraq is volatile and we have made no 
commitments," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told a press 
briefing. 
"The government is in contact with the Iraqi interim government 
including the Prime Minister`s office and Interior Ministry to secure 
dead bodies of two Pakistanis beheaded by their captors recently," he 
added. 
According to the spokesman, Pakistan`s charge d`affaires has also 
met top religious leaders in Iraq to impress upon them to use their 
good offices for the purpose. He said these scholars have also made 
country-wide appeal about handing over of the dead bodies. 
Khan rejected the impression that Islamabad did not take necessary
steps for release of the kidnapped Pakistanis, saying the captors 
acted in haste without making any demands. "The captors took 
unilateral decision to execute them on the misperception that they 
were spying for the Americans." 
He said neither the United States nor Tanzania has approached 
Pakistan for the top operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani arrested last 
week. 
To a question, he said a request by South African embassy in 
Islamabad for counselor access to their nationals apprehended from 
Gujrat in Punjab last month is being processed. 
Authorities say that three South African nationals were arrested 
during a 12-hour gun battle with al-Qaeda suspects in Gujrat. 
The spokesman said Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri and 
Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar today briefed Kashmiri leadership on 
Pakistan-India dialogue process. 
To another question, the spokesman said Pakistan is approaching 
the dialogue process with India with due sincerity. He was confident 
that experts meeting at different levels on various subjects would be 
able to sort out things. 
He confirmed authorities in Cyprus recently arrested about ninety 
persons, of whom 20 are Pakistanis, saying they have verified that all
of them were illegal migrants and have nothing to do with terrorism. 
About Gwadar project, he said it is an important strategic project
being completed with the assistance of China. "China is our close ally
and the project would convert the region into a hub of economic 
activity." 
Pakistan is providing full protection to the Chinese working on 
this important project, the spokesman added. 
TK/TSH/2322/1432