WASHINGTON, Jan 31: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that there are no Al Qaida or Taliban supporters within the ranks of the Pakistani military and the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI.

“Such reports are absolutely wrong and being spread by the people who want to harm Pakistan’s close and friendly relations with the United States,” he added.

Speaking to Christian Bourge of the United Press International, Mr Kasuri said that it was impossible for such people to survive in the military or the ISI because “both follow a strict military code”.

He added that military personnel primarily staffed the ISI, and that President Pervez Musharraf and top military leaders kept them under strict control.

“They dare not take any action which will be in conflict of the declared policies of Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Kasuri said the Sept 11 terrorist attacks transformed the relationship between Washington and Islamabad for the better, but more should be done to strengthen these ties.

“The two countries today enjoy a close, friendly, vibrant and multifaceted partnership,” he said and urged:”We need to structure it for the long term by further institutionalising the relationship in all spheres: political, economic, and, of course, our ongoing cooperation against terrorism.”

Earlier, in a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Washington, Mr Kasuri indicated that the INS registration programme has become a significant problem for his government.

“There has been an immense negative fallout in Pakistan due to the NSEERS process,” he said. “The difficulties arising out of the process have provided our opponents, many of whom oppose Pakistan’s role as a partner of the United States in our fight against terrorism, enough propaganda material to create problems for us as well as President Musharraf.”

Noting that Algeria was given an exemption from the list of countries whose residents have to register with the INS, he asked the US that the same consideration be given to Pakistanis.