ISLAMABAD, 10 December 2003 — President Pervez Musharraf yesterday asked the British government to remove what he called an “irritant” in bilateral relations and comment on reports that British intelligence had tried to bug the Pakistan Embassy in London, officials said. Musharraf made the comments when visiting British Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs Mike O’Brien called on him here.
An official statement said Musharraf told the junior minister the alleged spy operation had become “an irritant in the relations because of the lack of response by the British government to confirm or deny it.”
“An early resolution of the issue would be conducive for future cooperation between the two countries,” Musharraf informed the minister, according to the statement.
Early last month the British Sunday Times newspaper reported that British MI5 intelligence had made a botched attempt to bug the embassy of a friendly country with the collaboration of a construction worker engaged in renovation work at the mission.
At first the paper did not identify the embassy but in a subsequent report it said the operation targeted the Pakistan High Commission building.
Pakistan has since asked the British government to clarify whether it had authorized MI5 to bug the mission of its key partner in the war of terror.
Foreign office spokesman Masood Khan said Monday the British government had not given any response so far to Pakistan’s repeated queries.
During the meeting O’Brien exchanged views with Musharraf on regional developments, the situation in Afghanistan and peace overtures between Pakistan and India, the statement said.
It said O’Brien appreciated Pakistan’s peace gestures and said Britain “would make efforts to encourage a comprehensive dialogue between Pakistan and India to address all issues including the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.”
Musharraf also said he was disappointed that Britain and other countries attending the Commonwealth summit in Africa last weekend had failed to lift the bloc’s suspension of Pakistan’s membership. It was implemented after Musharraf, the military commander, came to power in a bloodless coup that swept aside an elected Pakistani government four years ago.
Musharraf told O’Brien that “democracy and freedom of expression had flourished in Pakistan, which entitled it to participate fully in an organization of which we were a founding member,” the government statement said.
