Rumsfeld skirts Dhaka troop plea

Impassioned protests preceded Mr Rumsfeld's visit

On a visit to Bangladesh, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld discussed peacekeeping in Iraq but did not ask Dhaka directly to commit troops.

Thousands of Bangladeshis had protested on Friday against the visit and to try to ward off a troops deal.

But after talks with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Mr Rumsfeld insisted he had merely praised Dhaka for the peacekeeping work it already does.

Mr Rumsfeld has been in Singapore for a summit on Asian security matters.

The US defence secretary - one of the first ever to visit the poor south Asian nation - had been widely expected to ask that Dhaka provide troops to assist in the shaky effort to pacify Iraq.

Bangladesh is one of the world's largest contributors of peacekeeping forces, with some 7,000 soldiers deployed on missions around the world.

Thousands of Bangladeshis thronged Dhaka on Friday, some shouting "Rumsfeld is a war criminal" and "Killer go home". American flags were burned.

A bus was set on fire, killing nine people. Police have made two arrests, and put the blame on opposition activists.

Praise

On Saturday Mr Rumsfeld told reporters travelling with him he had told Bangladeshi ministers the country was doing a "very good thing" by contributing forces to peacekeeping missions in several different places.

But he insisted he had not asked Dhaka to send troops to Iraq.

I have a lot of respect for the peacekeeping role that this country has played in a number of places Donald Rumsfeld

He said it was "up to each country to decide what it is they'd like to do, and I'm sure each country is perfectly capable of making those decisions".

Asked if he had planned to ask the country to contribute troops, Mr Rumsfeld said, "If I answered that question and say yes, obviously it would suggest I have asked them which I haven't.

"And if I say no, it would be implied we didn't want them. In either case, it would be unfortunate," he said.

On Friday, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan insisted no troops would go to Iraq without a UN mandate, and he said the position remained the same on Saturday.

"Our position has never changed," he said. "We always have worked under the [UN] blue helmet."

He added that Bangladesh would not send troops to any country without being sure they were wanted by the people of that country.

However, an unnamed defence official travelling with Mr Rumsfeld said they hoped Bangladesh would send troops "at some point".

"We think there is room for discussion," the unnamed official told several journalists.

Discussions are currently under way at the UN Security Council in New York to try to secure a resolution authorising the presence of a "multinational" security force in Iraq.

Security

The streets of Dhaka were largely deserted on Saturday, amid a heavy police presence for Mr Rumsfeld's sudden visit and an unconnected general strike.

The strike was called last month by the main opposition Awami League to protest the murder of one of its MPs last month.

Mr Rumsfeld had been in Asia to discuss security matters with regional leaders.

Earlier on Saturday, he warned a security conference in Singapore that the US' "war on terror" was only in its early stages.

He said the US remained a Pacific nation and would maintain its security presence in the region.