Protesters at an anti-cartoon rally in Karachi. (Reuters)

Islamabad, March 13 (Reuters): Barring nuclear power, or a gas pipeline from Iran, the US wants to help its ally Pakistan develop potential energy sources, US energy secretary Samuel W. Bodman said today.

Sent to Pakistan by President George W. Bush to discuss what can be done to cover its future needs, Bodman listed everything from coal, and gas pipelines ? except from Iran ? to renewable sources such as cellulose-based ethanol and wind or solar energy.

“I’ve just listed a long list of potential sources of energy that this country would have an interest in, should have, apparently does have an interest in, and that’s what I came prepared to talk about,” Bodman said. “And the field of cooperation with respect to civil nuclear work is not on the list.”

When he was in Islamabad on March 4, Bush told President Pervez Musharraf it was too soon to talk of Pakistan getting a similar deal to one given India, granting access to US knowhow for its civilian nuclear programme.

The US harbours reservations about Pakistan’s record on proliferation, as its top scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has admitted selling nuclear parts to, among others, Iran.

Pakistan has not let US investigators question Khan, who has been under house arrest for over two years.

Bodman’s visit to Islamabad came as Indian and Pakistani energy officials gathered in Tehran to discuss a $7 billion gas pipeline project from Iran to India, via Pakistan.

The White House last week poured cold water on the project due to concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and Bodman said there was no way the US would encourage any country seeking a contractual agreement with Iran.

Instead he said Pakistan should quickly pursue alternative potential gas pipeline projects with Turkmenistan and Qatar.

Bodman met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri at the start of a week-long trip that will also take him to Russia, Hungary and Kazakhstan.