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Musharraf to meet Crown Prince Abdullah

Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was to meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah today on his first foreign trip since seizing power this month after performing a minor Muslim pilgrimage.

The official Saudi press agency said General Musharraf had performed umra last night in the Saudi city of Mecca, home to two of Islam's holiest shrines.

Pakistani embassy officials said General Musharraf would meet the prince in the Red Sea industrial city of Yanbu.

General Musharraf arrived in the kingdom yesterday and held talks with King Fahd on Kashmir, Afghanistan and other regional and international issues.

The Pakistani embassy said General Musharraf had briefed the king about the military takeover which toppled prime minister Nawaz Sharief on October 12, and explained the ''aims and objectives of the new administration''.

It also said King Fahd had expressed hope that the new government would ''ultimately safeguard the interests of the people and the state of Pakistan''.

Diplomats in Pakistan earlier said they expected General Musharraf to discuss his country's perilous economic situation after the International Monetary Fund put a key loan programme on hold.

Gulf Arab states gave Pakistan limited economic support last year to help it survive a crisis caused by world sanctions imposed for carrying out nuclear tests in May.

Diplomats in Pakistan said General Musharraf would welcome diplomatic support from the Gulf because of Western anger about the coup, notably from the European Union and the Commonwealth.

General Musharraf, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed, was due to travel to the United Arab Emirates tomorrow.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the only countries which recognise the Taleban government in Afghanistan.

The international community demands that the Islamic movement, which controls 90 per cent of Afghanistan, work to end the civil war and hand over Saudi-born dissident Osama Bin Laden, accused by the United States of masterminding last year's bombing of two of its embassies in Africa.

General Musharraf has not spelled out details of his policy towards the Taliban, saying only that he wants to see a ''representative government'' in the war-torn state.

Reuters

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