Washington: Acknowledging that the situation on the Pak-Afghan border was a 'mess', the United States has said 'safe havens' for extremists in such places was a cause of concern for Washington.

State department spokesperson Sean McCormack told reporters yesterday that the US understood the concerns of Afghanistan on cross-border terrorism and that there has been an increase in Taliban activities over the recent months.

"President Musharraf and President Karzai had some meetings a couple of months ago here at the White House, and they have since tried to get together themselves and talk about different ways that they can stop that infiltration.

"But having safe havens and areas where these extremists can operate from is a real concern for us," McCormack said.

Asked to acknowledge the characterisation that this situation is a 'mess' McCormack replied, "It is. It is. And the key is cooperative working relationships among the Afghans, the Pakistanis, as well as coalition forces. And that includes us." On the agreement signed between the Pakistani government and the Taliban in certain tribal creas of the country, he said.