Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has touched off a storm of criticism at home after saying his country could send up to 10,000 troops to Iraq.
After meeting President George W Bush at Camp David on Tuesday and securing an aid pledge of $3 billion for backing the US-led war on terror, Musharraf said Pakistan could provide the troops if certain conditions were met.
He said one of the issues would be finance, as Pakistan could not be expected to pay for such a large force.
Musharraf's apparent willingness to assist the United States and Britain in Iraq was sharply criticised by political opponents and in newspaper editorials on Friday.
Influential English-language newspaper The News called Musharraf's statement 'surprising', especially as it had come without any parliamentary debate.
"His undertaking is not likely to be welcomed in the country, where the majority of people view the Americans and the British as an occupation force in Iraq," it said in an editorial.
"Dispatch of troopsÂ… is tantamount to becoming part of an invasion force that subjugated a sovereign state."
The Dawn newspaper said there was little chance that the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the Gulf Cooperation Council would get involved in peacekeeping in Iraq.
"In the given context, sending troops to Iraq would be wrong," it said.
"Cooperating with the US in the war on terror is one thing; helping America perpetuate its hold on Iraq quite another."
The News said Washington was appealing to non-Arab Muslim states for assistance to legitimise its occupation of Iraq and shift the brunt of resistance to troops from Muslim countries.
"These troops, whether sanctioned by the UN, OIC or any other regional grouping, will be actually doing the dirty work that the invading forces have to do after conquering an sovereign people," the paper said.
It warned that any Pakistani involvement could cost Islamabad friends in Arab lands that had also opposed the Iraq war.
Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for the opposition Pakistan People's Party, said it was 'concerned', and added: "Neither parliament nor the nation have been taken into confidence and we would like General Musharraf to explain his remarks and the facts of his negotiations at Camp David."
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party opposition Islamic alliance, said it rejected any move to send Pakistani troops.
"At a time when even the United Nations is not sending its troops, and alien forces are coming under attack, it is not wise to push our troops in this quagmire," he said.
"The people have also a sentimental and emotional association with the Iraq issue, and in such a situation we should not send troops there."
(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider)
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