ISLAMABAD, July 2: Pakistan is trying to dismantle the country's terrorist network for the sake of its own "national interest", President Pervez Musharraf told two visiting US senators on Friday, officials said.

During a meeting with Republican senators Don Nickles and Jeff Sessions, Gen Musharraf reiterated that Pakistan had to eliminate outsiders who were misusing its territory, a foreign ministry statement said.

"It was very much in Pakistan's national interest to dismantle the terror network and get rid of outsiders trying to misuse our territory," President Musharraf told the US lawmakers.

The president exchanged views with the senators on the multi-year US assistance package going into effect from October 2004, to meet some of Pakistan's pressing defence needs and provide additional resources for the government's plans to alleviate poverty and improve social services.

The senators assured the president of their continued support for Pakistan's security and her development plans. The statement said that an ongoing peace dialogue between Pakistan and India also came up for discussion during the meeting.

President Musharraf said he was satisfied with the progress made in Pakistan-India talks but warned "the (peace) process will suffer if there is no progress on the Kashmir issue."

With regard to the war on terrorism, Pakistan and the US were satisfied with the results achieved. President Musharraf welcomed the transfer of power to the Iraq interim government which should enable the Iraqis to take charge of their own affairs. -AFP/APP