ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan on Wednesday disclosed that the Foreign Office had ‘called’ the US envoy over reports of US Vice-President Dick Cheney’s remarks to a group of journalists at the US embassy here.

Mr Cheney reportedly informed the journalists about the ‘tough message’ said to have been conveyed to President Pervez Musharraf and the leadership of the ruling PML and the MMA over the regrouping of Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Mr Khan was talking to a group of journalists after attending a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly at the Parliament House here.

Acting with extreme care, he avoided using the word ‘summoned’. He initially refused to answer the question pertaining to Mr Cheney’s reported remarks, but on insistence from the journalists, he said: “In normal circumstances, we also call our friends, and yes we have called the US envoy.”

The foreign secretary also dispelled the impression that the US would block financial aid for Pakistan in case a strong action was not taken to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda from regrouping.

He said the meeting with the US envoy was a normal one as the Foreign Office routinely invited guests.

He said he had now invited the ambassadors of the OIC member-countries on Pakistan’s Middle East initiative.

“Pakistan will not allow any country to interfere in its internal affairs,” Mr Khan said in reply to a question.