Washington, Nov 11: With its troops under fire from the guerilla forces in Iraq, the united states said it would like more countries to send troops to bring stability to the war-torn country. US was seeking more troops from nearly 14 countries, beyond the 32 countries that have already provided some personnel to the US-led forces in Iraq, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at the Foreign Press Centre here. "I would like to see a lot of troops from other countries, and I tell you why. I think it is important for other countries to have a commitment to Iraq and to the success of Iraq," Rumsfeld said. The US-led troops have increasingly come under attack from the guerilla forces in Iraq over the past few months and Washington is finding it difficult to convince other countries commit their armies to bring stability in the war-ravaged nation.

"We don't want it to be countries that don't want to be there or countries that don't want to have larger numbers there, because we feel people ought to do that which they believe is in their best interest," said Rumsfeld, who leaves for a visit to South Korea and Japan tomorrow.
South Korean government under pressure to reject the us request for troops for Iraq and its national leadership was closeted to discuss the same. Last week, Turkey withdrew its offer to send forces to Baghdad.


Bureau Report