UK's Brown, Bush to discuss Pakistan border plan

LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush later on Thursday on a new strategy to deal with the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The United States and Afghanistan say al Qaeda and Taliban militants operate from sanctuaries in northwest Pakistani border areas, using the semi-autonomous tribal lands to orchestrate their insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to plot attacks in the West.

Helicopter-borne U.S. commandos carried out a ground assault in Pakistan's South Waziristan, an al Qaeda sanctuary, last week, killing 20 people, including women and children.

Pakistan condemned the raid, the first known incursion by U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

"What's happening on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is something where we need to develop a new strategy," Brown told a news conference.

"The insecurity on the border and the porousness of the border is a problem for both countries," he said.

He said he would talk to Bush about the new strategy in a video conference later on Thursday and would also discuss it with Pakistan's new civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari, who he said was scheduled to visit London "in the next few days".

The Pakistan High Commission in London could not confirm Zardari would visit.

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said this week that a "more comprehensive strategy" was being formed to combat the threat from the Taliban and al Qaeda in the region.

Pakistan's Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said on Wednesday his country would not allow foreign troops to conduct operations on its soil.

The U.S. action complicated the situation for Zardari, who was sworn in on Tuesday, having forced former army chief Pervez Musharraf to stand down last month after nearly nine years in power.

Zardari, like Musharraf, has vowed to defeat the Taliban and support the West's mission in Afghanistan, but the civilian government has to pay more heed to public opinion than Musharraf had done in a country rife with anti-American sentiment.

Speaking on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities, Brown drew a link between the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism efforts in Britain.

"We must maintain our level of activity in Afghanistan to ensure that we can prevent ... problems coming home to our streets in Britain and that's why we have increased our military presence in Afghanistan," he said. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)