If troops were sent, Pakistan would become a target of al Qaeda, one speaker said while speaking at a seminar "Implication of sending troops to Iraq" held here under auspices of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Senator Akram Zaki, vice-president of PML, Senator Farhatullah Babar from PPPP, General Talat Masood (Retd), defence analyst and Nasim Zehra a noted columnist expressed their views.
Airing his views, Akram Zaki said that Pakistan has been sending peacekeeping forces to many countries since 1960s. But Iraq's case is different, as UN did not sanction US invasion on Iraq therefore we could not support it.
Zaki discounted the allegations levelled by opposition political parties that the government has already taken decision regarding sending troops to Iraq.
Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has categorically stated that no decision has been taken yet in this regard, he said and assured that the government will go with wishes of parliament and people of Pakistan.
Expressing his views on Ashraf Jehangir Qazi's appointment as a UN envoy to Iraq, former foreign secretary said that his appointment has been misinterpreted and it has nothing to do with the decision of troops' deployment.
Zaki also assured that if Pakistan sends troops to any other country, it should be according to the UN mandate.
Spokesman of PPPP, Farhatullah Babar criticised the government's assurance that the decision of sending troops to Iraq will be taken according to the mood of people, political parties and the parliament.
"Nobody cares for the mood of the parliament and people here. There is only one person (President Musharraf) and we fear that he will send troops to Iraq," he asserted.
Babar claimed that President General Pervez Musharraf had made a commitment with United States during his visit to US last year that Pakistan will send its troops to Iraq.
He said that Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Egypt, Yemen and Turkey have categorically refused to contribute their troops for Iraq but our government is not adopting any clear stand on it.
Commenting on an option of referendum on this issue, he said Pakistan has a bad experience with referendums in the past. He said even the simple majority of the parliament was not a better option to decide this sensitive issue, as simple majority was also manipulated in case of Political Parties Act.
Commenting on free general elections in Iraq, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that occupation troops must vacate Iraq first and only then fair and free elections could be ensured there. He urged the government that there must be a broad-based political consensus on this issue.
Sharing his views, defence analyst General Talat Masood (Retd) said that America attacked Iraq to protect Israel and this war would destabilise peace in the whole region. America wants to shift military duties to Muslim countries, but is not willing to hand over the control of Iraqi government, he said.
Talat warned that we could become the targets of al-Qaeda if our government sent troops to Iraq. "There will be a severe backlash from people because they do not want to send troops to Iraq," he added.
Nasim Zehra also said that nobody is convinced about sending troops to Iraq therefore Pakistan must take a clear position as India has taken.