Richard Boucher arrives in Islamabad

Islamabad, Mar 15 (UNI) US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher arrived here last night for talks with Pakistani leaders on a range of issues, including the evolving situation in Afghanistan and the ongoing Pakistan-US anti-terror cooperation.

This is the second visit to Pakistan by Mr Boucher, Washington's point man on South Asian affairs, in two months, which takes place against a backdrop of repeated concerns by senior officials in the US, NATO and other major western capitals over re-grouping of resurgent Taliban and use of Pakistani soil by them for acts of terror inside Afghanistan.

The English language Dawn newspaper reported that Mr Boucher met President General Pervez Musharraf at a dinner hosted by him in honour of outgoing US Ambassador Ryan C Crocker last night.

The visiting official had an informal chat with the President during the dinner, which focused on joint efforts to contain the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He is also scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and other officials today.

His talks with Pakistani officials will mainly focus on Islamabad's efforts to curb militancy and cross-border incursions.

During his visit to Pakistan last month, US Vice President Dick Cheney had also expressed Washington's apprehensions on regrouping of al-Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistani tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat.

Mr Cheney, who met President Musharraf during the brief visit on February 27, expressed serious US concerns on the intelligence being picked up of an impending Taliban and Al-Qaeda ''spring offensive'' against allied forces in Afghanistan.

UNI