Islamabad: A Council of hardline Islamic clerics have issued a 'fatwa' against sending Pakistani troops to Iraq and said those who die there won't be eligible for martyrdom, stepping up pressure on the government which has yet to take a decision on the issue.

The Council appointed by the six-party religious alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), approved the edict or fatwa that said sending troops to Iraq would violate the tenets of Islam as the soldiers would be involved in "massacre" of fellow muslims.

Reading out the seven-page fatwa at a rally in Rawalpindi on August 14 night, MMA leader Maulana Samuel Haq termed sending of troops to Iraq as a "major sin," adding soldiers killed there could not be buried according to Islamic traditions.

"Any Muslim soldier killed while fighting against the Iraqi people would be dying as an infidel (non- believer)".

Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan had said recently that though Pakistan has agreed in principle to send troops to Iraq, a final decision would be taken only if it has cover of United Nations (UN), Organisation of Islamic Conferences (OIC), GCC or invited by the US-backed Iraqi governing council.

"The council's ulema believe that sending of troops by a country like Pakistan will be seen as a direct endorsement of the brutal American occupation", the Fatwa said.

The six-party religious alliance formed the Fatwa Council, which comprises nine ulemas and muftis from all religious schools of thought, after its talks with the Jamali government broke down earlier this month.

PTI