MOSCOW, Feb 2: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that Osama bin Laden was not in Pakistan.

In an interview with Russia’s Interfax news agency on the eve of a visit to Moscow, the president said: “Pakistan is an active member of the anti-terror coalition and our border is being monitored in the most comprehensive manner.”

“Therefore we can say that he is not in Pakistan,” he said.

Gen Musharraf is set to begin his first-ever visit to Russia on Tuesday.

“There is no possibility of any sensitive material from Pakistan falling into the hands of Al Qaeda or other terrorist elements,” Gen Musharraf said in the interview, which is set to be published by the daily Kommersant on Monday.

The president said he hoped the visit would boost military cooperation with Russia, which is a long-standing ally and chief arms supplier of India.

“We will welcome increased interaction in all spheres, including military cooperation,” he told Interfax. Talks on cooperation in the oil, gas, space and metallurgy sectors were also set to be in the agenda of his three day-visit, Gen Musharraf said.

“I expect that my visit to Moscow will help our two countries to begin a new era of friendly relations and cooperation for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries,” he said. President Musharraf is set to hold talks with the Russian President and other Russian officials during the visit.—AFP