Pakistan warns of Iraq war backlash

Both presidents are concerned at possible war in Iraq

President Pervez Musharraf says he expects serious fallout in Pakistan if there is US-led military action in Iraq.

He was speaking to reporters at the end of a landmark visit to Russia, a day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell's keynote address at the United Nations.

There will be fallout in the public sentiments in Pakistan, because they are against military action generally in Iraq

President Musharraf

The Russian and Pakistani presidents issued a statement calling for the Iraq crisis to be settled through diplomatic means.

President Musharraf also voiced scepticism at Mr Powell's claims that Iraq had maintained ties to al-Qaeda through its embassy in Islamabad.

"Certainly in Pakistan we think no such activity took place," President Musharraf told reporters in Moscow.

He said he hoped that warmer ties between Islamabad and Moscow may help ease tensions with Pakistan's arch-rival, India, over the disputed region of Kashmir.

Correspondents say his trip was designed to challenge Russia's rock-solid relations with Delhi.

Public opinion

General Musharraf met Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov on Thursday, and President Putin the previous day.

Musharraf questions al-Qaeda links with Iraq embassy

A joint statement said the two countries "are resolutely opposed to any unilateral use of force or the threat of force in violation of the UN Charter".

When asked about his reaction to Colin Powell's speech, President Musharraf said: "There will be fall-out in the public sentiments in Pakistan, because they are against military action generally in Iraq."

He added that a possible war in Iraq would hurt Pakistan economically through its impact on global oil prices.

As well as Iraq, the two sides discussed international security and defence and trade issues.

"Our relations have been developing quite well, particularly within the anti-terror coalition," Mr Putin said on Wednesday.

"We did discuss Pakistan-India relations, and in Pakistan-India relations, obviously, the focal point is Kashmir, but we didn't get involved in the methodology of resolution of the dispute," General Musharraf said.

Tense ties

General Musharraf's was the first official state visit by a Pakistani leader to Moscow since Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s.

Recent relations between the countries have been very poor.

They were at their worst during the Cold War, when Pakistan, backed by the United States, trained and armed the mujahadeen fighters who drove Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Pakistan needs to keep pace in the arms race with India

Pakistan's support for the Taleban during the following decade did not do much to charm Moscow either.

Russia was fighting its own war against Muslim separatists in Chechnya.

Now Pakistan believes it is sending the right message to Russia, as a fellow member of the anti-terror coalition, established after 11 September, correspondents say.

General Musharraf also wants to develop far stronger trading relations, which last year amounted to a miserly $100m.

In particular, he wants Russian arms.

BBC correspondent Paul Anderson in Islamabad says this is partly to reduce Pakistan's dependence on the United States, partly to counterbalance Russia's solid diplomatic and military relations with India.