JP/14/M05

ISLAMABAD (Reuters): Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, will meet a European Union delegation on Tuesday while his military hold meetings with U.S. defense team focusing on direct action against Osama bin Laden.

Top European Union officials, led by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, were due to meet Musharraf as part of a whirlwind tour of Islamic countries to drum up support for a global anti- terror campaign.

The flurry of diplomatic activity was accompanied by a highly secretive visit by a team of about six U.S. military and other officials to pave the way for any strike against Pakistan's neighbor, Afghanistan, host of Saudi-born dissident bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Officials refused all comment on the team's discussions but The News said the group, led by Brig. Gen. Kavin Chilton, was "assessing" the situation and had not come to discuss operational specifics.

"Basically, it is a mid-level U.S. military team and it has come to Pakistan only for assessment of the situation. For deciding specifics, there will be a senior level military team which will visit Pakistan in days to come," The News quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying.

It said a higher-level U.S. military delegation would visit Pakistan this month to discuss the specifics of the operation.

The European Union officials were due to meet several Pakistani leaders on Tuesday as part of their whirlwind tour to drum up support among Muslim nations for Washington's coalition against terrorism.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday that the team would visit six predominantly Muslim nations -- Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Solana said the team would discuss what military contribution, if any, the countries might be willing to make to the U.S.-led campaign but that it would urge them to "come together" against a common threat, which he said was terrorism.

"We want to make it absolutely clear that the campaign against terrorism...is a campaign for the whole world," EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters aboard the plane flying the EU mission to Pakistan.

"It is not a question of America and Europe against Islam."

Pakistan is now the only country to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan after Saudi Arabia cut ties on Tuesday, following the United Arab Emirates at the weekend.

Pakistan has withdrawn its staff temporarily from Afghanistan for security reasons but has not severed its diplomatic relations.

"Their (Taliban) embassy is functioning in Islamabad," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan.

Musharraf has promised full support to the United States in its fight against terrorism but has also underscored the limits of that help in view of a possible backlash by Islamic groups in case of U.S. strikes on Afghanistan.

Islamic groups have threatened to hold protest marches, demonstrations and rallies across the country to try to mobilize public opinion against any U.S. moves.

Peaceful protest rallies were being held daily in the northwestern town of Peshawar on the border with Afghanistan and several pro-Taliban Islamic leaders have vowed jihad, or holy warm, against Washington.

One group said it was already sending its fighters to the border of the western Baluchistan province to prevent U.S. attacks against southern Afghanistan, stronghold of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Government officials say the presence of two million Afghan refugees already living in Pakistan, and the prospects of hundreds of thousands more pouring in following any U.S. attack, created a security risk.

They also say that tribals, living on the border with Afghanistan and sharing the same language, culture and history, pose another threat in case the situation spins out of control.

The United States has not publicly stated what support it seeks from Pakistan, but it is understood that it has asked for use of its air space and intelligence sharing to hunt down bin Laden, reportedly hiding among the rugged desolate mountains of Afghanistan.

Washington has quickly moved to reward Pakistan for its stated support by lifting some economic sanctions related to 1998 nuclear tests by Islamabad and its ambassador Wendy Chamberlin has hinted on lifting of some more sanctions in the coming weeks.