ISLAMABAD, Jan 30: The United Kingdom and the United States have warned their citizens to evaluate carefully the implications for their security and safety before deciding to travel to Pakistan.

The US travel warning, issued six days after the kidnapping of Wall Street reporter Daniel Pearl, said the presence of indigenous sectarian and militant groups in Pakistan required that all Americans in or travelling through Pakistan took appropriate security measures.

Events in the Middle East also increased the possibility of violence in Pakistan, the travel warning added.

The US embassy urged all American citizens to defer travel to the tribal areas of the NWFP until further notice.

On Monday, the US had authorized the return of all US embassy and consulate personnel and family members, who left Pakistan in the wake of US attacks on Afghanistan.

Warning the citizens to consider their security and safety, the embassy said the US forces were engaged in a military action in Afghanistan against the remnants of the former Taliban regime and the Al-Qaeda network.

“While the Government of Pakistan has expressed its full support for the international campaign against terrorism, some public sympathy and support for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda still exists in Pakistan.”

The travel warning, issued by the British government, said the security situation in Pakistan remained uncertain in view of the continuing conflict in Afghanistan and the recently heightened tension between India and Pakistan.

Warning of threat from terrorism in major urban areas, the British government said the situation made it inadvisable for those unfamiliar with Pakistan, and without contacts such as family or friends in the country, to pay first time visits.

“There are pockets of anti-western feeling across Pakistan, but particularly in Northern Areas, NWFP and Balochistan.”

British nationals in Pakistan should have exercise particular caution given current heightened tensions in Afghanistan and the Middle East, the travel advisory said, adding, Pakistan was one of a number of countries, where global terrorism posed an increased threat to visible British institutions and organizations.

Advising the British nationals in Azad Kashmir to be extra vigilant and avoid areas adjacent to the Line of Control, the British government said that after a terrorist attack on the Indian parliament on Dec 13 Dec, there had been increased shelling over the LoC. “Travellers should also be aware of the heightened tension and increased troop movements along the Pakistan-Indian Border.”

Advising the travellers to check the airline flight routes, the British government said UK carriers had been advised that there should be no flights further West than flight path G325 and no flights further North than flight path R654. The airlines have also been asked to maintain a minimum 30 nautical mile buffer zone from the border with Afghanistan.