Analysis: Sensitive issue

As the Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, calls for support for a proposed Muslim military force for Iraq, BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy assesses the aim of the Saudi plan and the likely reaction among possible contributors.

US and Iraqi leaders favour a Muslim force

It is not hard to see why the United States supports the Saudi proposal - though it is likely to be a highly sensitive issue in the Muslim world.

The Americans are anxious to see other countries send troops to Iraq, now that Spain, the Philippines and some Central American countries have pulled out.

Prime Minister Allawi shares the same aim.

He wants the Muslim world to show its solidarity with the Iraqi people - and with his fledgling government.

For their part, Saudi officials want to help stabilise Iraq and no doubt also want to bolster their relations with Washington, sorely strained since the attacks of 9/11.

Saudi Arabia will not itself contribute to the proposed force.

The new Iraqi government, wary of any interference in its affairs by its neighbours, has excluded all of them from taking part.

That means Iran, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia.

So who is the initiative aimed at? And will it take off?

Muslim suspicion

Many people in the Muslim world continue to see Iraq as a country under US occupation - despite the fact that an interim Iraqi government has been in power for the last month.

Backing for a Muslim force may depend on a US 'exit strategy'

They are therefore likely to treat the initiative with suspicion.

Moreover the killing of two Pakistani hostages in Iraq has served to highlight that even Muslims are at risk there.

The killing of the two men by their kidnappers has deeply shocked Pakistani society, and has put the authorities in Islamabad in a painfully difficult situation.

Over recent weeks they have been engaged in behind-the-scenes talks with the Saudis about the initiative.

And they, like the Saudis, are sensitive to pressure from their American ally.

But in public Pakistani officials are being careful to say no decisions have been taken.

Under whose umbrella?

Crucially important is the mandate of the proposed force.

Countries which are likely to be approached - such as Bangladesh and Morocco as well as Pakistan - will not want their soldiers to be seen as part and parcel of the US-led multinational forces currently in Iraq.

More acceptable would be a separate force under a United Nations umbrella.

Much will depend on how the proposed force can be packaged.

If Muslim governments can persuade their people that their troops will replace departing American and Western forces, that might be politically palatable.

If, on the other hand, there is no early US "exit strategy", and Muslim forces were seen as giving legitimacy to the American occupation of Iraq, that would be very difficult to sell to Muslim public opinion.