Karzai "very serious" on ending air raids - official

Lawmakers said they had given Karzai an ultimatum to put controls on military forces operating in their country.

"The government must come up with a plan, within one week, to regulate the foreign forces," said Abdul Sattar Khawaasi, secretary of the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house.

"Their presence must be legalized. When a foreign soldier acts contrary to the law of Afghanistan, he should be prosecuted according to Afghanistan's law," Khawaasi told Reuters.

STRATEGIC GOALS

Army General David Petraeus, who as head of U.S. Central Command oversees military operations in Afghanistan, said he had assigned a brigadier general to look at the use of air strikes.

Petraeus said it was important to ensure "that our tactical actions don't undermine our strategic goals and objectives."

Karzai's spokesman Herawi said the raids were not producing a substantial impact on a Taliban insurgency that has been gathering strength across the south and east of the country.

"Our houses and villages are not havens for terrorists. The havens of terrorists are on the other side of the border," Herawi said alluding to neighboring Pakistan.

But analysts say U.S. and NATO-led troops would be unlikely to agree to fight without air power, because they are spread relatively thinly across Afghanistan.

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in Washington)