Associated Press

Islamabad, April 14:

Pakistan is considering a US request to send troops to Iraq to protect a UN mission, the Foreign Ministry said today, a day after US President George W Bush said he hoped to broaden international participation in Iraq. Pakistan, a key US ally in the war on terror, has previously declined to contribute troops to the US-led coalition in Iraq saying it would provide them only under U.N. or international command. "We are studying this request," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. "Unlike in the past, the request this time is quite specific and it is for the protection of a future United Nations mission which would be established in Iraq," he said, but did not give further details. Khan later told a news conference that the US request was made last week, and that Pakistan would respond to it when approached by the United Nations itself. "We have made no commitment so far," Khan said. "As and when the request is followed up by the United Nations we will respond to it."