NEW YORK, May 2: US officials have opened up talks with the British government on how to curb the access of British citizens of Pakistani origin to the United States, said the New York Times on Wednesday

According to a report published in the newspaper the talks were recently initiated by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

At the moment, the British are resisting, fearing that restrictions would incur a backlash from a population that has always sided with the Labour Party, the newspaper said.

The Americans say they are hesitant to embarrass their staunch ally in the Iraq war, Prime Minister Tony Blair as he prepares to step down from office.

According to British officials, the most onerous option was that of cancelling the entire visa waiver programme that allowed all Britons entry to the US without a visa.

Another option, politically fraught as it is, would be to single out Britons of Pakistani origin, requiring them to make visa applications for the US.

Rather than impose any visa restrictions, the British government has told Washington it would prefer if the Americans deported Britons who failed screening in the United States, British officials said. The British also screen at their end, and share intelligence with the Americans.

But Washington feels strongly, Mr Chertoff has said, that it had the right to build controls against terrorists from Britain who did not have a prior criminal record.