ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The Pakistan-US Defence Consultative Group (DCG) will take up vital security issues, including the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, when it meets here later this week.

Significantly, this will be the first meeting after Pakistan was declared a Major Non-NATO US Ally (MNNA) and after the re- election of President Bush to his office for a second term.

"The forthcoming DCG meeting would provide the first opportunity for a comprehensive briefing by the US delegation on what all this status entails," a senior diplomat told Dawn. The MNNA status is supposed to facilitate delivery of US weapons systems to Pakistan.

Announcing the date of the 16th meeting of the DCG, to be held on Feb 3 at the Ministry of Defence in Rawalpindi, Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan said at his weekly news briefing on Monday: "The DCG will review bilateral military cooperation, US security assistance to Pakistan, counter-terrorism, and long-term Pak-US strategic relations."

The two sides will have a general exchange of views on the situation in South Asia, Afghanistan and the Middle East, the spokesman added. Asked if Pakistan would raise the issue of F-16s at the DCG meeting, he said: "Yes, we shall discuss all issues including our legitimate military requirements."

The issue of F-16s was also raised by President Musharraf at his meeting with US President Bush in December last but officials remained tight-lipped about the latter's response.

The meeting of the Group, co-chaired by US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, Douglas J. Feith and Pakistani Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Nawaz Khan, will be attended by top military bureaucrats, senior officials of the foreign ministry and other key national security institutions.

The DCG meeting will be preceded by three-day deliberations of the Military Consultative Committee and the Security Assistance Working Group on vital issues. The groups would review the progress of defence cooperation between the two countries since the last meeting, and identify and plan new activities for the future, officials said.