ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf emphasized on Thursday the need for continued support of the international community for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.

    Musharraf was talking to a seven-member NATO delegation headed by Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, who called on him on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

    Rizzo was accompanied by NATO's Senior Civil Representative in Afghanistan, Hikmet Cetin.

    Musharraf thanked Ambassador Minuto Rizzo for NATO's prompt and substantive assistance in the wake of the Oct. 8 earthquake. " President Musharraf also expressed satisfaction at the growing cooperation between Pakistan and NATO after the Oct. 8 earthquake," the statement said.

    The Pakistani president briefed the NATO deputy secretary general on Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism. Rizzo greatly praised Musharraf's role in the war against terrorism and Pakistan's contribution towards peace and stability in Afghanistan, the statement said.

    Rizzo said that NATO wanted to have a strategic relationship with Pakistan, which it considered an important country in the region.

    He said that the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a strictly military organization during the cold war was transforming now to adapt to the new realities.

    He said that for the first time NATO had participated in relief and rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of Oct. 8 earthquake in Pakistan.

    He also said that through greater cooperation, misperceptions about NATO and its role could be removed. Pakistan was declared as the Non NATO Ally in June 2004 and the organization has offered a number of training courses to the Pakistan armed forces. Enditem