Islamabad, July 27: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his country was fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban in its own interest. He said this while talking to media persons before embarking on his first official visit to the US.

The prime minister’s statement assumes significance especially in the wake of reports that Pakistan had joined the US-led global war on terror under pressure from Washington.

London, July 26 : Meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif in London is unlikely to take place here.

According to The Nation, Sharif is getting ready for a brief visit to some other European country from where he will set off for Pakistan.

Prime Minister Gilani is reaching London on Sunday night.

“Neither has the Prime Minister expressed any desire for a meeting, nor has any such event been scheduled,” said a spokesman of the PML-N.

Islamabad - Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday left for a four-day official visit to Washington where he will discuss terrorism President George W. Bush and other US leaders.

Gilani's visit comes amid growing US frustration over Pakistan's inability in containing Taliban's cross border attacks from its tribal belt into Afghanistan on NATO-led international forces.

Islamabad, July 26 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government would engage in dialogue only with people who had renounced violence in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Referring to the agreement inked between the Taliban and the NWFP government in the Tribal Areas, Gilani said that if it failed, the government would adopt another strategy.

“It was the people’s and the government’s wish that the army not be used to battle terrorists in the Tribal Areas of the country,” he added.

Washington, July 24 : The US administration is planning to deliver key policy messages to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during his next week’s US visit, in a bid to make it clear that now it wants to get over its Musharraf phobia and acknowledge the new politico-democratic government led by Gilani.

Washington, July 22: US officials in Washington are a baffled lot these days ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s first America visit, as it is not yet clear as to how many journalists would be accompanying the premier.

Though the prime minister has urged the Pakistan embassy in Washington to ‘observe’ austerity during his visit and arrange cheaper hotels and cars for his entourage, the overhead costs like providing free international phone lines for the journalists cannot be done away with, reported the Dawn.