US 'cannot hunt militants in Pakistan'

Islamabad: Pakistan reiterated on Sunday that it will not let American forces hunt Al Qaida and Taliban militants on its soil, after a news report said Washington was considering expanding US military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions.

The foreign ministry dismissed as "speculative" a story in the New York Times on Sunday saying US President George W. Bush's top security officials discussed a proposal on Friday to deploy American troops to pursue militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

'So many times'

"We are very clear. Nobody is going to be allowed to do anything here," said Major General Waheed Arshad, the army's top spokesman. "The government has said it so many times," Arshad said.

"No foreign forces will be allowed to operate inside Pakistan."

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Bush's top security advisers - including Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - debated whether to expand the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to "conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan," the Times reported.

Recent reports indicate Al Qaida and the Taliban are "intensifying efforts" to destabilise Pakistan's government, the newspaper said.