18 January 2005	Tuesday	07 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The Foreign Office on Monday denied reports in a United States magazine that Pakistan was helping American special forces target suspected weapons sites for air strikes in Iran.

"There is no such collaboration," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said, referring to an article in The New Yorker magazine that claimed Pakistani scientists were providing the US with information on Iranian nuclear sites.

"We do not have much information about Iran's nuclear programme so I think this report is far-fetched and it exaggerates facts which do not exist in the first place," the spokesman told a press briefing. "I do not think there is any substance in what has been reported.

I think this is pure conjecture," he said. The magazine said Pakistan was helping the US in return for guarantees that it will not have to hand over nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan to international authorities for questioning. It said Pakistani scientists were giving information to be used by US commandos in Iran. -AFP