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Pakistan's Musharraf forges mutual support pact with Azerbaijan

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  • Pakistan's Musharraf forges mutual support pact with Azerbaijan

    Channel News Asia, Singapore from Agence France Presse
    July 8 2004

    Pakistan's Musharraf forges mutual support pact with Azerbaijan


    BAKU : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, on the first day of his
    state visit to the Muslim former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, said
    that the two countries had agreed to work together on issues
    including the Kashmir dispute, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian
    conflict.

    "The unique character of our political relations is that we always
    understand each other and support each other," Musharraf told a press
    conference after talks with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.

    "That finds expression in the Kashmir...problem," he added. "In
    international questions our positions are also close and on issues of
    the Islamic world, like the Palestine question, questions of Iraq and
    Afghanistan, we have agreed to coordinate our actions in future."

    Musharraf is due to address the Azeri parliament Friday and fly home
    the following day.

    Security surrounding the visit was tight. An army general who came to
    power in a bloodless coup five years ago, Musharraf has been the
    target of assassination attempts at home.

    A tiny state of eight million people bordering Iran and Russia,
    Azerbaijan has in recent years emerged as a steadfast ally to
    Pakistan.

    The two countries are united by a common fight against their
    non-Muslim neighbours: Pakistan in its conflict with India over
    Kashmir and Azerbaijan in a 15-year-old dispute with Armenia over the
    enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    They are also members of the exclusive club of Muslim states which
    have sided with the United States in its fight against international
    terrorism, offering logistical and military support to US-led
    operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    Musharraf reciprocated Azerbaijan's backing for Pakistan over Kashmir
    by saying that his country backed Baku's efforts to regain control
    over Karabakh, which is under Armenian control.

    "The occupation of Azerbaijan's regions worries Pakistan and in this
    question we will constantly support Azerbaijan," said the 60-year-old
    Pakistani leader.

    After talks between the Pakistani and Azeri heads of state, the two
    men and their officials signed a series of agreements covering the
    tourism trade, customs and combatting the drugs trade and
    international terrorism.

    Musharraf said his country was also interested in tapping into
    Azerbaijan's oil industry expertise -- the country is rich in crude
    and has been extracting oil for nearly a century -- to help Pakistan
    exploit its own energy resources.

    "Azerbaijan has great experience," Musharraf told reporters. "We want
    to use that experience, create joint ventures and work together with
    Azerbaijan."

    Relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan were first forged by
    Musharraf's predecessor Nawaz Sharif when he visited the Azeri
    capital in 1995.

    The late Azeri head of state Heidar Aliyev -- the father of the
    current president -- made a return visit to Islamabad the following
    year.

    The two sides concluded a military pact last year. Details are
    sketchy, though it is known that Azeri officers are training in
    military academies in Pakistan. Islamabad has also offered to sell
    its military technology to Azerbaijan.

    The Pakistani leader's schedule for Friday includes a walkabout in
    the capital and attending a concert in his honour at the State
    Philharmonic Hall.

    Deputies in Azerbaijan's parliament, or Milli Majlis, have been
    called back from their summer vacation for a special session Friday
    morning at which Musharraf will address them.
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