US welcomes idea to have Muslim forces in Iraq

The United States welcomes the proposal by Saudi Arabia to send a Muslim force to Iraq for peacekeeping purposes, deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said on Thursday.

"It's a proposal that we welcome. We believe that it is complimentary to ongoing UN and Iraqi government efforts," Ereli told a regular news briefing.

Noting the proposal is still at its early stage, Ereli said "A lot of questions remain to be answered regarding size, structure, mandate, command and control.

"This is something that will be the subject of discussions over the next several weeks."

When asked if the US prepares to withdraw its troops from Iraq in order to have Muslim countries contribute to peacekeeping operations there, Ereli said that is "a matter for the Iraqi government to decide".

"This is first and foremost a decision and the responsibility and the purview of the government of Iraq," he added.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, said earlier in the day that he welcomed the idea of dispatching Arab or Muslim troops to Iraq.

"We discussed the Saudi initiative. It is interesting. We welcomed the idea to have Muslim troops either part of or separate from the coalition forces," Powell told a press conference after holding talks with Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in the Saudi city of Jeddah.