ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Visiting Bosnian President Sulejman Tihic on Thursday complained that Islamic countries were not as forthcoming for his country's reconstruction and development as they were during its war with Serbia.

"Bosnia, a country of 3.85 million people, needs foreign investment for rapid economic development," Tihic told Pakistani businessmen in Islamabad.

He eulogized Pakistan's political and financial support to Bosnia and hoped its businessmen would contribute to the economic development of his country through direct investments and trade.

Besides the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan was among the Muslim nations that went out of its way in the early 1990s to help Bosnia-Hezegovina militarily. Pakistan provided financial resources as well as military hardware including short-range Anza missiles, manufactured by the country's premier defence establishment Kahutta Research Laboratories (KRL).

Pakistani troops also served as part of 60,000 United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the strife-torn Balkan republic. Tihic said with the improvement of the security situation in his country, the number of international peace-keepers deployed there has come down from to just 7000 troops.

"But we still need assistance from the Islamic countries to get out of the ravages of war, which killed 200,000 people," Tihic said. The Bosnian president, who flies back home on Friday, held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, who offered help to the Balkan state in many areas such as textile trade, agriculture, mining and industrial sectors. -dpa