Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are to visit Pakistan on a week-long tour at the end of this month, Clarence House confirmed today.

The visit to the country - the first for both the Prince and his wife - comes despite heightened security concerns after Islamabad police today discovered two rockets hidden less than a kilometre away from central government buildings, pointing towards the President’s official residence.

Ensuring full security for the Royal couple will be a key concern for aides coordinating the trip. The Foreign Office warns of a high threat from terrorism and sectarian violence in Pakistan, saying there "is reliable evidence that terrorists continue to target Western, including British, interests and individuals…Although the major cities are particularly vulnerable to indiscriminate bombing and other attacks, including kidnapping, no part of Pakistan is immune."

In March, a bomb exploded outside the US Consulate in Karachi, killing several and injuring around 50 people.

However, a senior Pakistani official said that the couple would be given "full protection" and insisted that their security was a priority. He said that several heads of state had visited the country in recent years without their security or welfare being compromised.

A spokesman for Clarence House told Times Online that he could not discuss specific security measures but that "the fact the tour is taking place shows that we have every confidence" in relation to the welfare of the Prince and his wife.

The tour, which will take in a visit to Islamabad as well as areas devastated by last year’s earthquake, will be the couple’s third joint venture abroad, after they embarked on visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India and to the US in 2005.

The main aims of the Royal tour are supporting the breadth of the partnership between the UK and Pakistan and highlighting the countries’ shared heritage. Clarence House said that the specific themes would be inter-faith, education and youth entrepreneurship, and sustainable development.

It will be an important visit for the Prince, who is a passionate advocate of multi-faith tolerance and who has long wished to travel to the Muslim state. The heir to the throne is seen as a key figure in bridging divides between Islam and the West.

Last month, a report leaked while President Pervez Musharraf was visiting Britain, claimed that the country’s intelligence service was supporting al Qaeda and the Taleban. However, General Musharraf angrily denounced the claims.

Since 9/11 he has waged a campaign against Islamic extremists in the country, banning several groups, dropping his support for the Taleban regime in Afghanistan and declaring his allegiance to the US on the War on Terror.

As a result, he has been targeted by several assassination attempts, including two in December 2003, in which he narrowly escaped death. Today’s discovery of the hidden rockets close to the President’s official residence has added to concerns about the threat posed.

On the tour, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit areas of northern Pakistan devastated after an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck in October last year, killing more than 75,000 people died in the region and leaving more than 2.5 million homeless.

In a speech tracking the progress of recovery efforts one year on from the disaster , General Musharraf today asked the international aid community for an extra $800 million to cover reconstruction costs and dismissed criticism that Pakistani authorities were working too slowly.

"I would urge... anyone that I’m accessing in this address to donate more for the President Relief Fund or the international community to help us more," he said, adding that initial predications of cost had underestimated the number of new houses that needed to be built.

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