Islamabad, Sept 05: Pakistan is expected to press the US to give Belgium the go-ahead to sell F-16 aircraft to Islamabad during meetings President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali will have with US President George W Bush later this month. Musharraf will leave for New York on September 20 to address the UN General Assembly. Jamali will go to Washington on September 28 to hold talks with Bush and his senior colleagues.

During his stay in New York, Musharraf will meet Bush and is expected to discuss the Indo-Pak peace process, the sending of Pakistani troops to Iraq and the UN role in the war-torn country. This will be Musharraf's second meeting with Bush in three months. Musharraf will also press for US nod to allow Belgium to sell a squadron of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and ask for other military equipment from the US.

Bush had not granted Musharraf's request to directly sell US-made F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan when the two met in Camp David in June, but gave six C-130 aircraft to the South Asian nation as part of USD 1.5 billion dollar defence aid. Pakistan later sent a request to Belgium to buy a squadron of F-16s. Belgium has said the sale is possible only if the US permitted it.

Bureau Report