Islamabad, July 7 (Agencies): in a setback to Pakistan’s efforts to get new generation Swedish-made Gripen fighter planes, Stockholm has said that it will not sell any weapons or weapon-related equipment to Islamabad.

“There is no question of selling them weapons or anything directly related to weapons,” Swedish foreign minister Laila Freivalds said after her talks with visiting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Stockholm yesterday.

Before his talks with Freivalds, Musharraf, who is currently on a tour of Scandinavian countries, said that Pakistan might be interested in purchasing Jas Gripen fighter planes from Sweden. “Pakistan is looking for a high-tech aircraft. Gripen is one of several alternatives,” he was quoted as saying by Swedish newswire TT.

Freivalds, however, said Sweden would not be considering to sell any weapons or weapon-related equipment to Pakistan, media reports here said.

She also said the Swedish government has yet to decide whether to sell Erieye radars, which Pakistan wanted for its air force. Freivalds said a decision has to be made whether the radar came under the category of weapons. “We have yet to reach that stage,” she said.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been looking for alternatives to acquire new aircraft to modernise its ageing fleet after the US declined to sell old and new F-16 fighters.

Aziz second seat

Pakistan’s Prime Minister-in-waiting, Shaukat Aziz, filed a second set of nomination papers for a parliamentary seat today.

Aziz, hand-picked by President Pervez Musharraf to become Prime Minister, filed his nomination papers for Tharparkar in southern Sindh province. Yesterday, he did the same in Attock.

Correction: In Wednesday's edition, Tarja Halonen should have been referred to as the Finnish President. The error is regretted.