According to the Bulletin report, which is much more detailed and evidenced than the brief news squib, the meetings began after June 2000.
irregardless - The fact is Khan could have very well had certain talks with one group or another outside of Musraff's knowing (he had just come into power less than a year earlier) - And there is no dispute that Musraff has done a lot for us (America) since Sept 11th (again, more than perhaps any other Middle East Country and more so than many European Countries....this with putting his life at risk!).
Also, one needs to question very hardly any supposed connections between Khan and al Qeade (in that Khan was used to dealing with Countries with huge budgets who had the needed equipment and manufacturing facilities to do anything with his "knowledge" - al Qeade had neither of these things).