Mixed views on Iraq Muslim force

The plan might gain support if it enabled US forces to withdraw

US and Iraqi officials have given a cautious welcome to a Saudi proposal for a new military force for Iraq drawn exclusively from Muslim countries.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell described the idea as interesting.

And Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi called on the leaders of Arab countries to close ranks to help Iraq.

But ordinary Iraqis remain sceptical Muslim troops would be different from Iraqi policemen targeted by militants, says the BBC's Caroline Hawley.

Our Baghdad correspondent says the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government have different views, with the latter preferring Muslim troops to give itself legitimacy.

This is a global war - these are forces of evil who are acting against us Iyad Allawi Iraqi Prime Minister

Militants accuse Mr Allawi's government of being a puppet of the Americans.

Across Iraq, more than 100 people were killed on Wednesday in the worst day of violence since the handover of sovereignty exactly a month earlier.

In other developments:

• one Polish soldier was killed and several others injured in a remote-controlled mine explosion on Thursday.

• Saudi Arabia will disburse soon a $1bn development aid pledge made at a donors' conference last October, Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi al-Hafidh says.

No neighbours

A number of Islamic nations have been approached and further discussions will be held, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has said.

Saudi officials also said they had discussed the idea with the UN and Iraqi leaders, and that the details were still being worked out.

Let go of the religion thing please and send in whoever is capable of saving lives Ipek Ruacan, Ankara, Turkey Have Your Say

But the BBC's Jill McGivering in the Saudi city of Jeddah - where the senior officials are holding talks - says there are major differences between the US and Saudi visions of the force.

The US wants it to be within the framework of the coalition efforts it leads, and the Saudis want it to be distinct, in order to be acceptable to public opinion in the Muslim world.

Mr Powell said both he and Mr Allawi favoured the Saudi initiative.

"We discussed the Saudi initiative. It is interesting," he said at a news conference after meeting the Iraqi prime minister.

"We welcomed the idea to have Muslim troops either part or separate from the coalition forces."

He suggested that the force could provide protection to the UN or security for facilities.

The Baquba blast demonstrates the insecurity in Iraq

Mr Allawi said he would discuss the idea with Islamic leaders in the near future.

"This is a global war. These are forces of evil who are acting against us," he said.

"I call upon the leaders of the Islamic countries and the Arab countries to close ranks."

He repeated the government's view that Iraq's neighbours - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Syria and Turkey - would not be included.

But the world's largest Muslim country, Indonesia, said it was only interested in sending troops under United Nations command.

And the Arab League ambassador in London told the BBC that Arab countries were not interested in sending troops to a country with occupation forces on its territory.

The Americans have to leave before any such contributions are discussed, Ali Mohsen Hamed told BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

UK lawmakers have been urging their government to do more to encourage Muslim countries to send troops to Iraq - after warning that the deteriorating security situation had turned the country into a "battleground for al-Qaeda".