Pak. security team coming today

NEW DELHI, JULY 1. A high-level team of Pakistani security and protocol officers is arriving tomorrow to assess the arrangements made for the historic summit between the President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, from July 14 to 16, sources said today.

The team, to be headed by the senior Pakistani government official, Mr. Hamid Peer, will visit various places in the capital, Agra, Jaipur and Ajmer Sharief. It will arrive tomorrow and return to Islamabad within a day or two.

The team members, besides taking stock of the security scenario, will hold discussions with senior External Affairs and Home Ministry officials about the place of Gen. Musharraf's stay in New Delhi and Agra and the venues of the official functions in these two places, the sources told UNI.

The team will also oversee the arrangements being made at Gen. Musharraf's ancestral home in Darya Ganj, the Taj Mahal and the Dargah of Kwaja Moinudeen Chisti - the places he is likely to visit apart from his official engagements.

On his return to Pakistan, Mr. Peer is likely to submit a report to President Musharraf's office. The exact composition of security and other officials in the President's team will somewhat depend on the views of the team. During its short stay in India, the team will review the security measures at the airport, Rashtrapati Bhawan, venues of official functions, the ancestral home of Gen Musharraf `Neharwali Haveli' and the route to be followed by the President in the capital. It would then proceed to Agra, Jaipur and Ajmer Sharief.

The visit by the team follows the short trip of the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Mr. Ashraf Zehangir Qazi, to Islamabad during which he is understood to have briefed the President about his deliberations with various Ministers and senior government officials as a prelude to the summit. Mr. Qazi returned to India only a couple of days ago.

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