President Musharraf for peaceful solution to Iran N issue

Islamabad, Feb 6 (UNI) Amid mounting tension between the United States and Iran over the latter's nuclear weapons programme, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today called for a peaceful solution to the Teheran N issue.

''There should be no use of force and Iran should not be made a target,'' he told reporters in Islamabad after inaugurating the two-day conference on UN peacekeeping at the National Defence University.

President Musharraf feared that in case Iran was targeted, it would not only be harmful for Pakistan but also for the entire region.

''This action will also trigger sectarian and other complex problems, he said a day after Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed to work together to curb the increasing sectarian problem in the Islamic world.

The President said efforts were being made to find out some peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

Mr Musharraf strongly denied that US Vice-President Dick Cheney conveyed his country's warning to Islamabad on the re-grouping of insurgent Taliban.

''We had a threadbare discussion of tactical nature during the meeting,'' he said, adding, no warning was conveyed.

The US as well as the NATO-led 35,000 troops and their commanders are concerned over what they call preparations by the Taliban to launch a spring offensive in Afghanistan with melting of snow in that country against the foreign forces and US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

President Musharraf said Pakistan and US have a strategic partnership and ''it is well-known to every one''.

Earlier at the conference, he said UN peacekeeping operations should aim at creating conditions for smooth execution and success of political, diplomatic, economic and humanitarian efforts.

The mandate and chain of command and control of peacekeeping operations must be clear and precise and resources commensurate with the mission must be provided, he added.

''The demand for peacekeeping is growing and I believe it is at an all time high with 93,000 men and women of 110 countries serving in 13 peacekeeping missions across four Continents, costing over 4.75 US billion dollars . This expansion amply highlights the role of the UN in peacekeeping and the new set of challenges that we all face, he said.'' President Musharraf said that Pakistan firmly believed in principles of the UN Charter and its contribution to UN peacekeeping has been as wide-ranging as the varied cultural, geographic, political and security conditions in which it had to operate.

UNI