Kuwaiti Emir Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah on November 9 received Pakistani Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf, who arrived here earlier in the day on a five-hour visit.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and other high-ranking officials from both sides attended the meeting, the Kuwait News Agency reported, without giving content of the talks.

According to local media reports available here earlier, the talks were likely to deal with ties between the two Islamic countries, as well as the latest situation in Pakistan since Musharraf came to power.

Musharraf is on his second visit abroad since he toppled the government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12. He had visited Turkey and will travel on to Qatar in his current tour.

Musharraf visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates late October.

Kuwaiti cabinet, in a weekly session Monday, welcomed Musharraf's visit and hoped for "more development of the good relations between Kuwait and Pakistan in the service of joint interest."

Kuwait and Pakistan have been maintaining a close relationship, which has been expanding over the years in the fields of economic cooperation, trade and manpower.

There are over 85,000 Pakistani nationals working and living in Kuwait.

Official statistics showed that bilateral trade volume was 11.9 million Kuwaiti dinars (about 39.27 million US dollars) in 1998.

The Kuwaiti government also put 250 million dollars in the State Bank of Pakistan as a loan in August 1998. The loan, with a 4 percent interest rate for two years, was aimed at easing Pakistan's economic hardship inflicted by international sanctions imposed on Islamabad after it conducted nuclear tests last year.