Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan yesterday held talks with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, who is on a two-day visit to the UAE.

The talks were attended by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, WAM reported.

Shaikh Khalifa and Musharraf reviewed the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process in the Middle East and stressed the need to remove any hurdles impeding the peace process so as to spare the region from further tensions.

They also underlined the need to pave the way for the international community to intervene to resolve issues and conflicts that may trigger permanent tensions in the region.

Later at a press conference Musharraf condemned US comments that the Al Qaida network had found safe haven in Pakistan. Reacting to a recent statement by John Negroponte, the outgoing US intelligence chief, that Al Qaida and Taliban are receiving support from Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Musharraf said none of the government agencies has ever supported terrorist activities. "I take strong exception to anybody blaming Pakistan, the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, or any government agency cooperating with extremist forces and sending them into Afghanistan," he said.

On Indo-Pak peace talks, the president said he is confident there will be a positive outcome very soon and all disputes, including the core Kashmir issue, will be resolved. He said the leadership of both sides realise a military solution is not possible. "We are moving very well on confidence-building measures. We are also moving towards conflict resolution," he said.