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KATHMANDU, Nov 22 (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will attend a South Asian summit early next year, officials said Thursday.

The secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Nihal Rodrigo, said all the heads of government from the seven member countries had confirmed they would participate in its 11th summit to be held between January 4 to 6 in Kathmandu.

"Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee are attending the 11th SAARC summit meet in Kathmandu," he said.

There has been speculation that Vajpayee and Musharraf could hold talks on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, which has been delayed since 1999 because of squabbling between India and Pakistan.

They have not met since a bilateral summit in July, which ended in failure over the disputed region of Kashmir.

SAARC, formed in 1985, is composed of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Rodrigo said security would be tight for the summit. A newspaper report in Nepal Thursday said threats against the heads of the SAARC countries had been received in Kathmandu

"These threats are targeted at the leaders Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, the Sri Lankan president, and the Bangladesh prime minister," the Nepali-language Space Time Today newspaper said, quoting a high-ranking official at the Home Ministry.

Around 200 soldiers will be deployed during the summit to ensure the safety of all the delegates, the newspaper said.

Rodrigo said two protocols were expected to be signed at the summit -- on the protection of children and on ending the trafficking of children and women for the flesh trade.

He said other important issues such as trade, poverty alleviation and food security would be discussed.

"Definitely, regional terrorism issues are expected to come up for discussion," he added. 

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