Islamabad: Seeking to calm fears that the US might target Pakistan after its war on Iraq, Foreign Minister Khurshid Muhammad Kasuri said Washington has promised to continue its economic assistance and military sales to Islamabad.

Dismissing speculation that US would turn its attention to Pakistan due to its alleged nuclear co-operation with North Korea and the danger of its nuclear arms falling into the hands of Islamic extremists, Kasuri said, "It can never be the turn of Pakistan as it is a responsible country.

"There is no possibility of its nuclear weapons falling into irresponsible hands," he told reporters in Lahore.

Kasuri added that Pakistan was fully alive to the concerns of the international community and the command and control system was in safe hands.

He said despite imposing two-year sanctions on Pakistan's key nuclear facility A Q Khan Research Laboratories, "the US has assured us that economic assistance, military sales and other programmes will remain unaffected".

Dismissing allegations that its missile technology had been obtained from North Korea, Kasuri said Pakistan's missile programme was "indigenous and self-sustaining and does not dependent on any foreign country".

Pakistani media on April 7 published remarks by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad stating that Pakistan could be the next target of the US.

Mahathir told al Jazeera television that "Today there is a talk of co-operation between Pakistan and other countries on nuclear technology and it is believed to possess weapons of mass destruction."

PTI