Iranian foreign minister in Pak to condole Bhutto's death

Islamabad, Jan 4 (UNI) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived here on a day-long visit today to mourn former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

He held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Inam-ul-Haq and met President Pervez Musharraf in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Mottaki mourned Bhutto's death with Musharraf and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual importance, an official told UNI.

The Iranian Foreign Minister also expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan over the death of Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the official said.

He expressed ways formulated to further boost bilateral cooperation and expedite Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.

The Iranian Foreign Minister Manochar Mottaki also met with the caretaker Foreign Minister Inam-ul-Haq and discussed bilateral relations and important regional issues.

''The two ministers also reviewed progress in talks about the multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline,'' the official said.

Mr Mottaki also visited the Peoples Party Secretariat in Islamabad and laid a wreath on the portrait of the late Bhutto and offered fateha.

While endorsing his expression on the mourning book, he described Bhutto's death as a great tragedy.

Bhutto was assassinated in a gunfire and suicide attack on December 27 after addressing a public rally in Rawalpindi.

President Musharraf invited a team of Scotland Yard to assist Pakistan officials in the probe. The five-member team from the Metropolitan Counter-Terrorism Command arrived in Islamabad today.

According to a British High Commission official, the team has expertise in the area of forensics.

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