Islamabad, Nov 11: Pakistan has begun the expensive process of debugging its embassy in London, since the British government has refused to confirm or deny media reports that its intelligence agents were involved in a bungled spy operation there, the foreign minister said today. ``We have to take all steps for debugging,'' Khurshid Kasuri told a nationally televised news conference in Islamabad. ``That's the first step we will take, we have taken. We have already dispatched people. They are already in Britain.''

Kasuri, who was in England on a state visit shortly after the alleged undercover operation was first reported in the British press, said he was confident that whatever happens, Pakistan and Britain will maintain their close relations. But he also said he is determined find a way around the excuse that British officials are giving for their no-comment approach: that British law prevents the government from ever commenting on intelligence matters.

``Our relationship with Britain is excellent, but we want Britain to give us a positive explanation,'' he said.

On November 2, Britain's Sunday Times reported that Mi5, the country's domestic intelligence service, had botched an effort to spy on the London Embassy of one its allies in the global war on terrorism. The original report did not identify the embassy.

Bureau Report