Pakistan's Zardari expects no more U.S. raids

LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's new President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday he did not believe the United States would carry out any more cross-border raids into Pakistan.

Frustrated at militants hiding across the border with Afghanistan, U.S. forces have stepped up attacks against targets inside Pakistan in recent weeks with missile strikes from unmanned drones and a raid by helicopter-borne U.S. commandos.

The attacks have sparked an outcry from Pakistani leaders.

Asked if Pakistani troops had been authorized to fire on U.S. soldiers if they staged any more cross-border raids, Zardari told reporters in London: "I don't think there will be any more." He did not elaborate.

Zardari was speaking after several hours of talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband which addressed the security situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Asked if Brown agreed with him that U.S. cross-border raids were wrong, Zardari said: "He did agree that they didn't help."

A spokesman for Brown declined comment.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this month he was not convinced Western forces were winning in Afghanistan and said militant bases across the border in Pakistan would be targeted in a shift of war strategy.

Helicopter-borne U.S. commandos carried out a ground assault this month in Pakistan's South Waziristan, a militant border sanctuary, the first known incursion into Pakistan by U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, killing 20 people.

In a joint statement released after their talks, Brown and Zardari said there was a "particularly acute problem with extremism emanating from the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. This had an impact on Pakistan as much as anywhere else, but was also impacting on (British) forces in Afghanistan."

"It was for the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to lead the efforts to combat this extremism, with the support of the international community," they said.

It said Britain and Pakistan had agreed to enhance cooperation against violent extremism and radicalization, but did not say how.

Zardari said cooperation would be improved through more interaction and understanding, suggesting Britain could help other countries understand Pakistan's view.

Britain, the former colonial ruler, had "always had better understanding of the (Indian) sub-continent than any other country so if they would take our point of view and put it across to the world I think it would be better," he said.

Zardari was elected president this month to replace staunch U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf, a former army chief who stepped down as president last month under threat of impeachment.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Richard Balmforth)