Friday, September 29 2006 11:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: London: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf accepts that Britain is not accusing his country's intelligence service of backing Islamist extremism, Prime Minister Tony Blair said today (Sept 29,2006), seeking to defuse a row.

Musharraf had vowed before talks with Blair to protest over a British think-tank report alleging that Islamabad's ISI intelligence service indirectly supports Islamist extremism in Afghanistan, Iraq and Britain.

"President Musharraf accepted straight away that this document was not a reflection of British government policy so there was no need to discuss it any further," a Blair spokesman told sourcesafter the talks.

The issue had threatened to cast a shadow over the two-hour meeting at Chequers, the prime ministerial retreat just outside London.

The paper, written for the Defence Academy, a Ministry of Defence think-tank, alleges that the ISI is fanning extremism by secretly backing the coalition of religious parties in Pakistan known as the MNA.

Speaking in a BBC interview beforehand, Musharraf had denied the suggestion.

"Absolutely, 200 percent, I reject it," he told the British Broadcasting Corp..

"I take exception seriously, and I would like to talk about it (with) Prime Minister Tony Blair when I meet him," the president said.

Blair voiced gratitude to Musharraf for his backing in the US-led war on terrorism, while the Pakistani leader thanked Blair for Britain's help during the devastating earthquake in his country last year, said the spokesman.