Putrajaya, Malaysia, Oct 10: Malaysia, on the eve of hosting an Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit, said today only Muslim nations should participate in peacekeeping in Iraq. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar warned fellow OIC member Turkey, a neighbour of Iraq's, that sending troops to back the US-led coalition forces would only make the Iraqi people unhappy and was not the best way to bring about peace and democracy.

"You cannot have peacekeepers from countries which are not Muslim," Syed Hamid told reporters. He said Turkey's potential participation in peacekeeping forces had made Iraqis unhappy.

"The most important thing is that (if) they are sending troops it has to be acceptable to the other country they are supposed to bring peace and democracy to...traders of peace and democracy must themselves exercise peace and democracy." Bureau Report