ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: Efforts are being made for national reconciliation and the government is in contact with a number of important politicians, including those outside Pakistan, says Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

"President Pervez Musharraf himself has decided to go for greater national reconciliation in the larger national interest," the minister said. Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, Sheikh Rashid said that all politicians, including Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, were "very much in contact with the government".

However, he said that some politicians were in direct contact with the government, while others had been approached through mediators, including senior journalists. "While there is no direct contact with Nawaz Sharif, members of his family are very much in contact with the government," the minister said.

He said that the government had been maintaining close contact with a number of politicians for a few months. "We are doing our job, sometimes openly and sometimes quietly and you should have confidence in us to deliver as far as national reconciliation is concerned."

The minister declined to comment when asked whether President Musharraf had contacted Ms Bhutto on telephone during his recent foreign visit. When pressed further, he said: "I (have) told you what I had to say ... Please don't try to read much between the lines."

However, he stressed that the government had embarked on the path of national reconciliation. It was a new move on the political chessboard and there were hopes of a good outcome, he said

When asked if the government was discussing with the opposition parties, including the MMA, the possibility of holding general elections in 2005, as was being claimed by PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, Sheikh Ahmad said that no such move was being contemplated.

Even the MMA leadership, he said, was not eager for early elections which, he added, would be held according to schedule in 2007. Commenting on MQM leader Altaf Hussain's statement that the 'establishment' was again planning to conduct an operation against his party, he said: "No such step is being planned."

When it was pointed out that the MQM leader was talking about "a state within state", he said that Mr Hussain had already stated that he had been misquoted in the press on various issues.

Sheikh Rashid said that there was no truth in assertions about plans for what was termed a 'greater Punjab' and that everybody had to work for a greater Pakistan. He told a reporter that he had said a few days ago that some more political leaders - possibly referring to Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and Yousef Raza Gilani - would be released soon. "I still stand by what I said but I will add here that we must also receive some positive signals from the other side."

When asked if President Musharraf would shed his military uniform by Dec 31 and whether the issue had been raised by anybody during his foreign tour, he said that many people outside the country did not even know if the matter was an issue in Pakistan.

The information minister said that India should not be concerned over Pakistan's acquisition of weapons from the United States, France or the United Kingdom. He said Pakistan was seeking conventional arms to maintain a balance of power in the region and that India should not have any objection to it because New Delhi itself was also acquiring modern and sophisticated arms from various sources, including Russia and Israel.

He told a reporter that the president had taken into confidence the world leaders about India's desire to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. "Many things have been discussed but I don't think it is necessary (at this point)" to bring announce it to the press, he said, adding that Pakistan's point of view was well taken by world leaders, including President Bush.

Asked if Pakistan had decided not to raise the Kashmir issue on any multilateral forum, the minister said both India and Pakistan believed that they could sort out the issue by discussing it between themselves. "But we have not given any undertaking to anyone that we would no longer be raising this issue at any multilateral forum."

The information minister termed the president's recent foreign visit a 'resounding success' which, he said, would help improve Pakistan's image abroad. He said it would also help enhance bilateral ties leading to increase in Pakistan's trade and market access in Latin American and the EU countries for Pakistan.

Core issues like Kashmir and Palestine, he said, were discussed extensively by the president with President Bush, who was in a position to help sort out these problems for the promotion of peace and harmony in the world. New modalities regarding the US war on terror, he said, were also discussed with President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.