Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to dispatch forces to Iraq only upon request from Iraqi people

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan said Sunday they would dispatch troops to Iraq only if a request was received from the Iraqi people and a consensus was reached among the Muslim countries to meet such a request. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia want to do "what is helpful to Iraq and the people of Iraq," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a joint news conference in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mahmud Kasuri. 

However, he said the needs for Iraq were "too large for us to meet individually." 

With regards to sending troops, he said, "If the Iraqi people express their desire it will have to be from the Muslim Ummah (nation) all together." 

"But this expressed opinion from the Iraqi people has not been shown to us and until that time, we will not send troops" the Saudi foreign minister made clear. 

Meanwhile, Kasuri also restated the position of Pakistan, as he said, "Our public will be satisfied if they perceived that the people of Iraq wanted us." 

"If the people of Iraq asked for help, Pakistan, as a brotherly country, will do what it can. We will wait (for) that to happen and when that happens the public opinion in Pakistan will also change."(Albawaba.com)