Two U.S. officials in Pakistan for talks

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two senior U.S. government officials arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday and are likely to meet Pakistan's new prime minister and President Pervez Musharraf.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrived a day after Pakistan's National Assembly voted in a new prime minister who will head a coalition government made up of opponents to U.S. ally Musharraf.

A U.S. embassy spokeswoman declined to say who the two officials would be meeting but an official in Washington said on Monday Negroponte hoped to meet Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and was likely to see Musharraf.

"This visit continues the ongoing series of visits that the deputy secretary and assistant secretary make to Pakistan to discuss issues of mutual interest," the spokeswoman said.

"They'll be seeing a wide range of people."

Musharraf's popularity has eroded over the last year and his political allies were soundly beaten in February 18 parliamentary elections won by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Gilani, a deputy chairman of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, is forming a coalition with at least three other parties, including the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, which came second in the election.

Sharif, the prime minister then army chief Musharraf overthrew in a 1999 coup, has called for Musharraf to step down but he has dismissed the calls saying he was ready to work with the new government.

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