US team due in Islamabad today

Published August 22, 2003

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: A seven-member US delegation, comprising six legislators and Assistant Secretary of State for Defence and Legislative Affairs Powell Moore, is due here on Friday evening.

The delegation headed by Senator John McCain, chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, will arrive here from Kabul after a brief visit there.

Other members of the delegation include Senators Lindsey Graham, Maria Cantell, John Sununu, Kay Baley Hutchison and Congressman James Kobe, member of the House Appropriations Committee.

The delegation is scheduled to call on President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday morning, Foreign Office Spokesman Masud Khan confirmed on Thursday.

The delegates will also meet key Pakistani cabinet members earlier at a breakfast to be hosted by US ambassador Nancy Powell at her residence, sources told Dawn. Among the invitees are Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Defence Minister Rao Sikandar, the sources added.

A senior diplomat said that it was a routine congressional visit usually undertaken by US representatives during the recess period to assess bilateral relations.

“There is no specific agenda, it is just a fact-finding visit about Pakistan-US relations,” the diplomat said.

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