Islamabad: Pakistan will send its troops to Iraq, but only after the United Nations (UN) passes a resolution, and other Muslim countries agree to send their troops, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said.

No troops would be sent under US' pressure, he told reporters on August 3.

"The US administration has asked Pakistan to send one division of Pakistan Army to Iraq. But President General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Army and the government would not take any decision on sending our troops to Iraq contrary to the popular opinion of the masses.

"Although the US authorities now want a huge number of Pakistan Army troops in Iraq, there is no pressure on us to do so," 'The News' quoted Kasuri as saying on August 4.

"We would send our troops as requested by the US and Britain to Iraq provided the UN endorses a resolution in this connection and if other Muslim countries send their troops to Iraq," Kasuri said, adding "We agreed to send our troops to Iraq to help our brothers."

Referring to peace initiatives with India, he said both countries needed to talk bilaterally on all issues, including Kashmir.

"We should start talks from the same level where these were suspended, and the things already formulated and agreed between Islamabad and New Delhi should not be renegotiated. Both countries should not waste time, as we have a good base to proceed further in the wake of the previous seven Foreign Secretary level rounds of talks," he said.

With the possibility of air links between the two nations being restored by August end, Kasuri suggested that the opening of the rail link would be of greater significance. "The families belonging to middle class can't afford to travel by air and can only use the rail mode of travelling to meet their dear ones across the border," he said.

Refuting allegations that al-Qaeda terrorists had carried the 9/11 attacks on the US with funding from Pakistan, Kasuri claimed that the Taleban and al-Qaeda bank accounts were across the world, including the US. The accounts were traced in Germany, UK, USA and many other countries, and even today America has a huge amount seized out of the accounts of Taleban.

"Therefore that is not the indication Pakistan has been involved in the 9/11 event," he clarified.

ANI