Some 100 people marched in protest in Kabul

The Afghan foreign ministry says General Musharraf had questioned Mr Karzai's influence across the country.

Over the past week Afghan and Pakistani troops have been exchanging small arms fire across their shared border.

On Monday, 100 people took part in a demonstration in Kabul, in protest against reported Pakistani military incursions into Afghan territory.

Mr Karzai said he wanted to speak to General Musharraf about his alleged comments.

"Mr Musharraf has made some comments regarding Afghanistan which have become a matter of sadness and regret for me," the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

During a recent trip to Europe, General Musharraf allegedly spoke of a power vacuum in Afghanistan and said the government did not represent all ethnic groups, the Afghan foreign ministry said.

"Afghanistan does not interfere in anyone's affairs and neither does it want others' interference in its affairs," Mr Karzai said.

In a related development, protesters marched through the centre of Kabul shouting slogans against General Musharraf.

Afghan concern

Over the weekend, Mr Karzai sent a team of high-ranking government officials to the border to investigate whether the alleged incursions took place.

The president ordered the investigation after tribal elders from the province of Nangahar told him they were concerned that Pakistani forces operating on the border were also carrying out military operations inside Afghan territory.

Pakistani troops were sent to the area last month to try to stop suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda fugitives from carrying out cross-border attacks on Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies that its troops have entered Afghan territory.

The long porous border between the two countries cuts across mountainous territory and is very poorly marked.