Pakistan denies Israel invitation

President Musharraf says closer ties with Israel should be discussed

Pakistani has postponed hosting a United Nations meeting which would have been attended by an Israeli minister.

The meeting, planned for March, would have been the first visit to Pakistan by an Israeli minister.

The minister, Israel Katz, says he was invited to Islamabad by the United Nations delegation.

Pakistan has no diplomatic ties with Israel and a foreign ministry spokesman insisted it has not issued an invitation to Mr Katz.

Such a visit would have been would have been opposed by Islamic hardliners.

The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says the Pakistani Government has avoided a domestic political backlash over a possible visit by Mr Katz by announcing that the proposed meeting had been postponed.

I was invited to visit Pakistan in March, and I accepted the invitation Agriculture Minister Israel Katz

Earlier on Tuesday Mr Katz he was looking forward to visiting Islamabad in March as part of a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation delegation.

Our correspondent says that news of the possible visit immediately sent shockwaves through official and political circles in Pakistan.

In recent months the government has encouraged a public debate on establishing ties with Israel, even though President Musharraf has insisted that formal recognition is not on the cards.

Not invited

There is strong opposition in Pakistan to recognising Israel because of continuing violence in Palestinian areas.

Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan has now announced that it will not be able to host the UN crop maximisation meeting in March, and no new date has been set.

Mr Khan told the BBC that since the meeting had been put off, the question of the Israeli minister's visit to Pakistan does not arise.

He said that while the Israeli minister may have been part of a UN delegation, he was certainly not invited by Pakistan.

But the minister himself continues to insist that he is bound for Islamabad.

The minister said his invitation comes against the background of improved relations between the two countries who are working with the United States in the fight against terror.