ISLAMABAD Feb 28: President Gen Pervez Musharraf met US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca here on Friday and told her that peace ought to be given the best chance through a diplomatic solution to the Iraq problem.

According to an official press release issued by the foreign affairs ministry, “the President underlined Iraq’s responsibility for complete, immediate and verifiable disarmament under the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

The president said that peace ought to be given the best chance through a diplomatic solution to the problem. “The report of chief weapons inspector Hans Blix is due and would be important in this behalf.”

A detailed discussion also took place on the entire range of Pakistan-US bilateral relations and ways and means of further improvement in a long-term context at the meeting which was held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.

Ms Rocca had on Thursday separately met Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar. The focus during these meetings was reported to have been on the Iraq situation. Pakistan as a member of the Security Council is under intense pressure to define its position as the new resolution is now before the Council.

According to an official statement after the meetings, the foreign minister said: “We want a peaceful solution because in the event of a war no other country would be affected as much as Pakistan. We already have Afghanistan next door and hope that peace prevails.”

According to the statement, both sides also agreed that the resumption of the bilateral dialogue process between Pakistan and India was essential to meaningfully address all outstanding issues.

The US Assistant Secretary, who heads the State Department’s South Asia Bureau, emphasized that the US remained committed to bringing about such a dialogue.” Ms Rocca conveyed the US administration’s deep appreciation to Pakistan for its cooperation in the global war against terrorism.

Ms Rocca later on Friday left for Lahore enroute to Bangladesh.

IRAQ ENVOY: The Iraqi president’s special envoy who met President Gen Pervez Musharraf here on Friday has said that Iraq was determined to fully cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors’ and would be destroying Al Samoud 2 missiles in response to the inspectors’ demand.

According to a press release issued by the foreign ministry here, the envoy, Iraqi minister of information Mohammad Saeed Al Sahaf, called on President Musharraf. The envoy said that he had been directed by President Saddam Hussein to brief Gen Musharraf on Iraq’s efforts to comply with the UN Security Council resolution.

The press release stated that Iraq was determined to fully cooperate with the UN inspection regime and it requested that “Pakistan would take this into account during Security Council deliberations”. Iraq would also destroy as demanded by UNMOVMIC, Al Samoud 2 missiles.

President Musharraf, the official release stated, was in favour of a peaceful resolution of the problem and urged the Iraqi leadership to take all steps necessary to avoid a conflict.—H.A