KATHMANDU, Nov 22: President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend a SAARC summit early next year, officials said on Thursday.

The secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Nihal Rodrigo, said all the heads of government from the seven member countries had confirmed they would participate in its 11th summit to be held from Jan 4 to 6 in Kathmandu.

“Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee are attending the 11th SAARC summit meet in Kathmandu,” he said.

There has been speculation that Premier Vajpayee and President Musharraf could hold talks on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, which has been delayed since 1999 because of squabbling between Pakistan and India.

Rodrigo said security would be tight for the summit. A newspaper report in Nepal said threats against the heads of the SAARC countries had been received in Kathmandu.

“These threats are targeted at the leaders Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, the Sri Lankan president, and the Bangladesh prime minister,” the Nepali-language Space Time Today newspaper said, quoting a high-ranking official at the home ministry.

Around 200 soldiers will be deployed during the summit to ensure the safety of all the delegates, the newspaper said.

Rodrigo said two protocols were expected to be signed at the summit — on the protection of children and on ending the trafficking of children and women for the flesh trade.—AFP