New York: Former US President Bill Clinton had listed the Indo-Pak standoff and the ties between Pakistan and Taliban among the top "security problems" when he met with President-elect George W Bush at the White House soon after his defeat in the elections.

Bush was told that the "biggest security problems", in order, would be Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the absence of peace in the Middle East and the standoff between India and Pakistan, ties of the Pakistanis to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, North Korea and Iraq, Clinton writes in his book 'My Life'.

"I said that my biggest disappointment was not getting bin Laden, that we still might achieve an agreement in the Middle East, and that we had almost tied up a deal with North Korea to end its missile programme, but that he probably would have to go there to close the deal."

The book is to be released on Tuesday (Jun 22, 2004) but portions of it were published in the Time magazine, which will reach newsstands tomorrow (Jun 21, 2004).

When Bush came to the White House, Clinton writes, "We talked about the campaign, White House operations, and national security."

Bush was putting together an "experienced team" from past Republican administrations who believed that the biggest security issues were the need for national missile defence and Iraq, Clinton writes adding that he told him about the security problems based on his eight years experience in the White House.