UKRAINIAN EMBASSY TO PAKISTAN DENIES REPORTS IT HAS RECIEVED THREATS FROM TERRORISTS

KIEV, May 3 (RIA Novosti) -Ukraine's Embassy in Islamabad has dismissed as false the media reports that unidentified terrorists allegedly threatened to blow up the ambassadorial compound unless the diplomats pressed their government into pulling Ukrainian troops out of Iraq, Ukrainian Charge d'Affairs ad interim Nikolai Sklyarenko told RIA Novosti. The Saudi press agency SPA and a Pakistani newspaper reported the news Monday, citing sources at the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

The reports have prompted the Interior Ministry to tighten security measures in and around the Ukrainian Embassy's compound in Islamabad.

The embassy's staff have not received any such threats and have not made any related statements, Sklyarenko said. He described the reports as non-credible.

The Ukrainian Embassy continues its routine operations as usual, the diplomat assured. He went on to explain that round-the-clock security had been introduced following a burglary attempt this past March and has nothing to do with reported terrorist threats.

Nonetheless, the Ukrainian Embassy has been instructed to take measures to ensure that the staff and the property are safe, Markiyan Lubkivski, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, told a news conference.

Ukraine's 1,600-strong contingent has been on a peacekeeping mission to the Iraqi province of Vasit since September 2003.