Visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Monday again strongly condemned the killing of three Chinese engineers working in Pakistan in his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao here.

Musharraf said the Pakistani government and people deeply regretted and strongly condemned the murders.

The Pakistani government is determined to seize the criminals as soon as possible and punish them accordingly, Musharraf said.

Pakistan will take further steps to safeguard the security of Chinese citizens, Musharraf added.

"The Chinese government and I feel deep grief at and are concerned about the deaths of three Chinese engineers," Hu said. "We believe that the Pakistani government will severely punish the criminals and take concrete measures to ensure the security of Chinese citizens and organizations in Pakistan."

The three Chinese engineers, namely Long Hongbao, Wei Jianping and Zhao Bin, and their Pakistani driver were shot dead on Wednesday, just days before Musharraf's China visit, when their car was attacked by a gunman on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km southeast of Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital.

Source: Xinhua