Pakistan has indicated interest in contributing troops to protect the world body's personnel and facilities in Iraq provided the interim government requests for them and other Islamic countries also have troops on the ground.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said there were about three or four countries that had indicated some interest and that he himself had spoken to some leaders 'who seemed interested but had certain conditions', including Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
Annan said, "Pakistan would be prepared to contribute if the request were to come from the Iraqi interim government, and if there were other Islamic troops on the ground, because they would not want to be the only Islamic force on the ground."
There are discussions going on about the deployment of troops from other Islamic countries. "I don't think that has been brought to closure yet," Annan told reporters on Wednesday.
Replying to a question, a few countries have indicated some interest in sending troops but no one has as yet to come up with the size of force it is prepared to deploy.
"Consultations and discussions are going on. I have spoken to some who seemed interested but had certain conditions," he added.
More from rediff