Islamabad: Pakistan reportedly asked the US to help tide over the controversy generated by recent reports suggesting nuclear collaboration between Pakistan and North Korea and asked it to issue a statement clarifying Islamabad's position.

"Pakistan has requested the US State Department to issue a statement clarifying Islamabad's position," the 'Dawn' daily said in a report on December 16.

Pakistan has categorically denied any such involvement with North Korea, assuring the US that it "has not and will never share its nuclear technology with North Korea or any other country in the world", Pak Ambassador to US Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said.

Qazi returned from Islamabad last month with a personal assurance from President Pervez Musharraf that no such transaction ever took place, the paper.

"Pakistani diplomats also conveyed this assurance to senior officials at the US State Department, with the request that Islamabad would appreciate if Washington issued a comprehensive statement, fully supporting Pakistan's position," the paper said.

While the State Department has not turned down Pakistan's request, it does not appear willing to issue such a statement soon, it said.

The issue was expected to figure in Rocca's talks with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

Pakistani denials, however, have had little impact on the US media, the newspaper said, adding since October this year, when the 'New York Times' first reported the story, the alleged nuke-for-missile deal between Pakistan and North Korea keeps popping up in the American press.

The reports allege that Pakistan has provided nuclear technology to North Korea in return for the missiles Islamabad acquired from Pyongyang for strengthening its nuclear delivery system.

PTI