ISLAMABAD, March 14: Pakistan has received no request from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for samples of centrifuges and if asked, the government will not accede to it.

This was stated by foreign office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani in reply to a question at his weekly news briefing on Monday.

“We have not been asked to hand over any centrifuges to IAEA nor will Pakistan do so,” the spokesman declared, dismissing reports that Pakistan had agreed to provide some samples of centrifuges to the IAEA.

He rejected another report suggesting that Pakistan had given some control of its nuclear assets to the Americans or some international agency.

“We do not need assistance from any country,” he asserted. “Our command and control system is in effective hands. We have a strict export control mechanism in place. There is legislation to this effect which is being followed in letter and in spirit.”

When asked if any IAEA delegation had come to Pakistan recently to collect some environmental samples or talk about cooperation on the question of centrifuges, the spokesman said: “Not to my knowledge.”

Noting that Pakistan was cooperating with the IAEA, the spokesman said: “As is the norm and international practice our cooperation with the IAEA is of confidential nature.”

“However,” he maintained, “in cooperation with the international agency we will be strictly guided by our national interests and also by the imperatives of protecting our strategic assets.”

In this context, he emphasized, Pakistan’s efforts had been appreciated by the IAEA.

When questioned on the context and timing of Information Minister Sheikh Rashid’s statement regarding transfer of centrifuges to Iran by Dr A.Q. Khan in his personal capacity, Mr Jilani tried to downplay it, saying: “The information minister did not say anything that has not been said earlier. We have been saying all along that there were some clandestine transfers that took place at some stage.”

He pointed out that these transfers had been investigated by Pakistan and findings had been shared with the IAEA.

In reply to other questions on the matter, Mr Jilani said: “We can’t attach any motives to the statement made by the information minister.”

About the possible US attack on Iran, he reiterated Prime Minister’s Shaukat Aziz’s statement that Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used against any country, including Iran.

On the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme and mounting US pressure on it to abandon it, he said Pakistan favoured peaceful resolution of the issue and was opposed to use of force against any country.

Referring to the Anti-Secession Law passed by the National People’s Congress of China, the spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s principled stand: “Pakistan adheres to One-China Policy. Pakistan regards Taiwan as part of China and hops that it will return to the motherland soon.

“Pakistan appreciates and fully supports the efforts made by the Chinese government for reunification of Taiwan to the motherland and considers the recently passed Anti-Secession Law as part of these efforts,” he said.

RICE & F-16s: Mr Jilani said that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon and her engagements here would include a call on the president, the prime minister and a bilateral meeting with the foreign minister.

When his comments were sought on reports that the Secretary of State would offer sale of F-16s to Pakistan, he said: “At the moment I am not in a position to predict or pre-judge what she is going to say when she holds meetings with the Pakistani leadership.”

He, however, said that Pakistan’s legitimate defence requirements were well known to the US administration. They (defence requirements) had been on the table for quite some time and our understanding was that they were under active consideration by the US administration, the spokesman maintained.

On a question that Secretary Rice had stated she would raise the issue of restoration of full democracy in Pakistan, the spokesman said: “That’s not the impression we are getting.”

He referred the questioner to the US president’s recent statement that the US was a safer place because of the efforts made by Pakistan. Mr Jilani also pointed to Ms Rice’s statement that steps taken by Islamabad in the last three years had improved the situation in Pakistan as far as the democratic process was concerned.

Appreciating the US interest on the question of democracy, he said: “We think there is a convergence of interest as far as Pakistan and the US are concerned.”

On the impression that the Secretary of State would exert pressure on Pakistan to hand over Dr A.Q. Khan to the US authorities for investigation, the spokesman said that question had already been addressed by the president and the prime minister, underscoring that Pakistan was a sovereign country.

BUS SERVICE: Answering a question about a resolution passed in the AJK Assembly demanding that only Kashmiris be allowed to use the proposed Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service and not Pakistani and Indian nationals, the spokesman said the bus service was meant primarily for the people of Kashmir. He reiterated that although the facility would also be available to the Indians and Pakistanis, the main beneficiaries would be the Kashmiris.

He said no dates had yet been finalized for President Musharraf’s visit to India to witness one of the cricket matches. On the possibility of President Musharraf’s meeting with the Indian prime minister during his visit, the spokesman responded in the affirmative, pointing to the fact that the Indian leader would be the president’s host.

He said dates for the second round of composite dialogue would be finalized soon through diplomatic channels. He pointed out that at the foreign secretary-level talks in December there had been broad discussion on the schedule and it had been agreed that meetings on the remaining six items would take place between April and July.

Responding to a question regarding delay in the appointment of a neutral expert by the World Bank to resolve the Baglihar dam dispute, Mr Jilani hoped the process would be expedited.

“We expect the appointment of the neutral expert in a reasonable timeframe,” he said.

SOFT IMAGE: In reply to a question as to how the president proposed to sell a soft image of Pakistan abroad when leaders of the country’s two major political parties were forced into exile and a key opposition party leader was behind bars, Mr Jilani argued: “The question of soft image has nothing to do with personalities.”

Defining the soft image, he said it meant projection of the correct image of Pakistan and referred to the richness of its tradition, cultural heritage, and value system.

He said what the president meant when he advocated promotion of Pakistan’s soft image was to project the country as a rising Pakistan, as a shining Pakistan, a Pakistan which was on road to democracy and was progressive and moderate.

The spokesman underlined that Pakistan was playing an important role in the international arena, specifically pointing to its role in the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement.