Islamabad, April 12:

Pakistan and Yemen signed five agreements here to reinforce ties in the areas of trade, education, sports and tourism. “Agreements were signed following talks between visiting Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his Pakistani counterpart General Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad,” said an official statement issued after the talks.

The talks focused on ways to promote cooperation in the areas of trade, economy, education, defence, security and counter-terrorism.

President Saleh arrived in Islamabad yesterday afternoon on a two-day state visit. As a gesture of goodwill, president Pervez Musharraf himself went to the air force base in the garrison town of Rawalpindi to receive his Ye-meni counterpart, who last visited Pakistan 19 years ago.

Traditionally, Pak foreign minister receives the visiting heads of state at the air base.