Islamabad: Pakistan's Senate on April 2 adopted a unanimous resolution deploring the US-led attack against Iraq and demanding that UN Security Council must take an immediate initiative to end hostilities.

"The Senate of Pakistan expresses its shock and dismay over the attack by the US, British and allied forces against Iraq in the clear violation of the UN Charter," the resolution moved by Khurshid Ahmad, a member of the hardline Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA) said.

Deploring the indiscriminate use of firepower against the civilians, the resolution demanded that UN Security Council must take an immediate initiative to stop hostilities and seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the problem.

Expressing solidarity with Iraqi people, it said the Senate supported protests by all peace-loving countries and called for mobilisation of world opinion to end the war.

The resolution was adopted after a week long fiery debate, during which the treasury and Opposition benches denounced US for launching war against Iraq.

The unanimous resolution, backed by the ruling pro-military Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), followed strong rebuttals by the Pakistan government protesting the latest US sanctions against the country's key nuclear facility, Kahuta Research Laboratory (KRL), for allegedly supplying nuclear technology to North Korea and obtaining long and short range missiles from Pyongyang. Pakistan has denied the allegations.

Officials said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf protested to US Secretary of State Collin Powell over sanctions against KRL during telephonic talks on March 31.

Answering questions in the Senate on the American sanctions on KRL before it adopted the resolution, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said the sanctions would not affect the country's nuclear programme.

He said Pakistan "firmly adhered to non-proliferation and no incident of any proliferation has ever taken place" since President Pervez Musharraf took over in 1999 after the military coup.

PTI