Asian countries including India, Pakistan or the Philippines could join a multinational "stabilization" force planned for Iraq, Polish Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke said

In Lisbon, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio -- who opposed the Iraq war -- said he would support Portuguese participation in the planned force if this were backed by international organisations. Eleven European countries had expressed interest in contributing to the force, in addition to the three planned core members -- the United States, Britain and Poland, Zemke said on Polish radio. "We are also getting signs that certain Asian countries, for example India, Pakistan and the Philippines, would be prepared to send troops," he added. Washington is said to be formulating a post-war plan carving Iraq into three or possibly four military sectors, each controlled by one of the partners that backed the US-led invasion. The United States, Britain and Poland would administer three sectors and a possible fourth would be managed by a country yet to be decided, Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said Sunday. Details that have emerged of the US plan indicate that the United Nations would not be consulted and that Washington would bypass France, Germany, Russia and other nations that opposed the war. In Paris, a government spokesman avoided direct comment on the proposed new multinational force, but reiterated the French position that the UN must have a central role in Iraqi reconstruction.