ISLAMABAD, March 11: The Australian government is approaching President Gen Pervez Musharraf through its prime minister John Howard after Pakistan's cabinet rejected the fungus-infected 150,000 tonnes of Australian wheat.

"Australian prime minister Howard has written a letter to President Musharraf on Thursday calling for his intervention in the matter," diplomatic sources said.

The letter of the Australian prime minister emphasizes the need for a third-country testing. The federal cabinet took the decision of rejecting Australian wheat after it was found to be infected with Karnal Bunt fungus.

The report presented to the federal cabinet said the Australian officials accepted the presence of fungal contamination in the $30 million wheat consignment shipped to Pakistan but argued it may be "Tilletia walkeri" and not Karnal Bunt.

"Since both species are disease-causing and are known to infect wheat, the Australian contention that the wheat consignment be tested in another country is untenable," the report presented to the cabinet on Wednesday said.

Australia on Thursday again demanded a third round of independent DNA testing for wheat consignment in the letter sent by prime minister Howard to President Musharraf.

According to the detailed report presented to the federal cabinet, samples of the 150,000 tonnes wheat in all the four ships were found contaminated with Karnal Bunt fungus during re-examination by an independent commission.

According to the report, the gluten content in the wheat consignment of all four ships was found to be below the required contract specifications of 26 per cent. The protein content of wheat in all the four ships was less than the minimum requirements, the report said.

In the consignment on board MV Oriental, the report said, live insects were also detected. The re-examination was done in the presence of Australian representatives Dr Gordon M Murray (Plant pathologist) and two officials from Australia, the report said.

"The contract specified that the weight, quality and fitness of the shipment must conform to the contract specifications and that the buyer had the right to reject the cargo if Pakistani laboratories found any discrepancies," said the report. Tenders for the deal were awarded on January 6 and the bid of M/s Tradesman International (Pvt) Limited Karachi was approved for import of 150,000 tonne wheat.

The cabinet was informed that the contract specified testing of wheat only in Pakistani laboratories and the country's quarantine laws did not allow introduction of plant-bearing disease causing fungi, Tilletia indica or Tilletia walkeri.

"The contract allows arbitration process to occur in case of any dispute under the Pakistan Law of Arbitration in Lahore," the report said. The report in its recommendations said the matter concerned Passco and a Pakistani importer hence "government level contacts between Pakistan and Australia were neither necessary nor desirable on the issue."