February 16, 2003	Sunday	Zul Hijjah 14, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: President Pervez Musharraf told US President George W. Bush in a telephonic talk that war was “not a good option” to settle the present Iraqi crisis, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

A brief ministry statement said Mr Bush had called General Musharraf on Friday (as already reported in Dawn) to discuss consideration of the Iraqi situation by the UN Security Council, of which Pakistan is currently a non-permanent member.

“The (Pakistani) president emphasized that while it was agreed that (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein had to fully comply with the UN resolutions, war was not a good option,” the statement said.

The ministry said President Musharraf also spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah regarding the Iraqi situation, and “both agreed on the need to avoid war and explore all possible avenues for a peaceful settlement of the crisis”.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council on Friday that inspectors had not found any weapons of mass destruction during their search in Iraq, but he did not rule out the possibility that they might exist.

In the debate following his speech, Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations Munir Akram called for giving more time to the weapons inspectors — an option Washington opposes.

The first announcement of the Musharraf-Bush conversation was made by the White House on Friday when it said the two leaders had agreed in their telephonic talk on the need for Iraq to “comply completely” with UN disarmament resolutions.

President Bush also “expressed his appreciation for Pakistan’s important contribution to the global war on terror and also stressed the importance of seeking peace and stability in South Asia,” his spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

He said both presidents “agreed to remain in close touch”.