"General Myers is on a brief one-day visit," a defence ministry official told AFP.

General Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting Pakistan for "consultations with senior military officials", US embassy spokeswoman Linda Cheatham, told AFP.

Myers will Wednesday visit US-led coalition troops serving in Afghanistan and meet with Afghan officials.

Pakistani officials said he met with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Mohammad Aziz Khan.

General Myers is the second high-ranking US military official to visit Pakistan after the head of the US Central Command, General John Abizaid, held talks on July 23 with Pakistani officials, including President General Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan is a key US ally in the campaign against terror and the two countries have worked together to root out the remnants of the al-Qaeda terrorist group and remnants of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime in the region bordering Afghanistan.

Islamabad has received a US request for two brigades of Pakistani troops to join peacekeeping work in post-war Iraq.

Pakistan last week said it would consider sending troops if the Iraqi people or their leadership asked for such help.

Previously it had insisted it would consider sending troops to Iraq only if sanctioned by either the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) or the Gulf Cooperation Countries.

WAR.WIRE