WASHINGTON, Jan 5: President Gen Pervez Musharraf and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell have agreed that hot pursuit of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters across the Pakistan-Afghan border will continue but quietly, diplomatic sources told Dawn.

The two leaders have spoken twice since Dec 29, when a clash between US and Pakistani troops in North Waziristan strained relations between the two allies.

They have agreed that troops on the ground would react according to the situation but neither side would issue a statement without consulting the other, sources said.

“This means that if a situation requires a hot pursuit, it will be done but there will be no angry remarks from either side, as we saw after the Dec 29 incident,” said a Washington-based diplomat.

In Pakistan, the clash caused angry protests in several cities against the US forces while American military officials insisted that they reserved the “right to cross the border” when pursuing fugitives.