TOKYO, Feb 18 Kyodo Japan and Pak...

TOKYO, Feb 18 Kyodo

Japan and Pakistan agreed Tuesday that the international community must unite in seeking to explain the situation involving Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.

In talks at the ministry, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Pakistan's acting Ambassador to Japan Mohammad Waheed-ul-Hasan agreed to continue bring to a period contact over the issue, the officials said.

Motegi told the ambassador he hopes the U.N. Security Council, of which Pakistan is generally a nonpermanent member, will adopt a of the present day resolution that will display the global community's unity forward the issue of Iraq's insufficient cooperation with UN weapons inspectors, they said.

Waheed did not be agreeable to directly, but repeated Pakistan's position that it was seeking a peaceful resolution to the issue, according to the officials.

Pakistan was the same of 12 countries in the 15-member Security Council which said last week that UN inspections in Iraq should continue and be upgraded, rather than for the United States and Britain to launch an attack to disarm the abiding habitation forcibly.

Japan has begun urging nonpermanent members of the council to agree forward a common position on Iraq, likely suggesting they accept a conciliatory draft resolution to be at handed for adoption shortly by the U and Britain.

As part of as it is efforts, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano met with Angolan Ambassador to Japan Victor Lima onward Monday and the sum of two units agreed to closely cooperate in responding to the Iraqi situation, the officials said.

The council's five permanent members with veto power are Britain, China, France, Russia and the U The other 10 members, chooseed by the U.N. General Assembly for two-year metes are Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Germany, Guinea, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain and Syria.

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