WASHINGTON A confused America sent mixed signals on Friday with President Barack Obama saying his country will continue pushing Pakistan to 'do more while an assurance was communicated the same day to Islamabad that there will be no US boots on its territory. Moreover, outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, said he still believed 'there is no solution in the region without Pakistan, as people in various cities of the 'vexing yet vital war-on-terror ally burnt US flags at protests sparked by the US threats of attack following accusations by Mullen that Islamabad was 'exporting terrorism to Afghanistan. President Obama said in a radio interview on Friday that the US will continue to push Pakistan to 'do more to curb militants based in its border regions while maintaining intelligence cooperation with Islamabad. Obama also said that the US will demand from Pakistan to hand over terrorists caught on her territory. Weve been very firm with them about needing to go after safe havens inside of Pakistan, but weve tried to also preserve the intelligence cooperation that weve obtained thats allowed us to go after al-Qaeda in a very effective way, he told the host, Michael Smerconish Theres no doubt that the relationship is not where it needs to be and we are going to keep on pressing them to recognise that it is in their interest, not just ours, to make sure that extremists are not operating within their borders, added Obama. But he admitted that Pakistans relationship to the militant Haqqani network is unclear as he urged Islamabad to curb any active or passive support for that Taliban faction. The intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is But my attitude is, whether there is active engagement with Haqqani on the part of the Pakistanis or rather just passively allowing them to operate with impunity in some of these border regions, theyve got to take care of this problem. Asked if Mullen was correct, Obama said: I think Mikes testimony expressed frustration over the fact that safe havens exist, including the al Haqqani network safe haven, inside of Pakistan. The US president however credited Pakistan with 'outstanding cooperation in going after al-Qaeda and vowed to keep working with Islamabad on the militant issue. Obama said Washington would remain firm with Pakistan on the safe haven issue, but weve tried to also preserve the intelligence cooperation that weve obtained thats allowed us to go after al-Qaeda in a very effective way. Agencies add: On the other hand, the US moved to ease tensions with Islamabad, telling Pakistan it would not send ground troops to attack militant positions in North Waziristan. A senior US official told Reuters on Friday that there will be no boots on the ground in Pakistan, a message he said has been communicated to them (the Pakistanis). Charges by Mullen that Pakistans spy agency had supported this months attack on the US Embassy in Kabul triggered a diplomatic fusillade over the past week. But the the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff softened his rhetoric on Friday, telling a ceremony marking the end of his tenure that the US relationship with Pakistan was 'vexing and yet vital. I continue to believe that there is no solution in the region without Pakistan, and no stable future in the region without a partnership, said Mullen, who sometimes referred to himself as Pakistans best friend in the US military. I urged Marty (Mullens successor) to remember the importance of Pakistan to all of this, to try and do a better job than I did with that vexing and yet vital relationship, Mullen added in remarks Our strategy is the right one. We must keep executing it. Mullen told CNN in an interview to be broadcast Sunday: The worst case, for me, is to see Pakistan deteriorate and somehow get to a point where its being run by insurgents who are in the possession of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons technology, which would mean that that part of the world would continue to deteriorate and become much more dangerous. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said of the new Joint Chiefs chairman: Martys strategic vision is the right one for this time of transition. The diplomatic flare-up has added to anti-American sentiment in a country where a poll in June showed that almost two-thirds of the population considered the United States an enemy. Demonstrations by religious parties broke out in several Pakistani cities on Friday, just a day after political leaders joined in rejecting US accusations that Islamabad was supporting militants. In Hyderabad, about 900 people from a religious group burned an effigy of US President Barack Obama and chanted 'America is a murderer. In Lahore, at least 800 people protested at the headquarters of the Jamaat Islami (JI), Pakistans biggest religious party. 'Go, America, Go rose from the angry crowd. Another protest by JI in Peshawar drew around 200 people. They walked a donkey over an American flag laid on the road, and chanted 'Americas Graveyard - Waziristan, Waziristan. The prevailing view in Pakistan is that because of our alignment with the US, our problems have increased, said Talat Masood, a retired general and military analyst. Americas view is the opposite: 'Because you are not aligning yourself with us, your problems are increasing. This is the whole dilemma at the moment, he said. Dozens of political parties emerged from a conference on Thursday to condemn Mullens accusations of state links to violent militants as 'baseless allegations. They also pledged to seek a political settlement with militants on both sides of the border. A military official said the army, which has lost 6,500 troops in the 10 years since Pakistani allied with the US in the war on militancy following the Sept 11 attacks, supported this policy. Earlier, obviously concerned over the unravelling US-Pakistan relationship and the angry bluster from Islamabad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got into major diplomatic mode with the White House taking a similar cue to mollify the Pakistan that they were still an indispensable ally and imperative for the war on terror. During two separate press stake-outs after her meetings with the Nigerian and Egyptian foreign ministers respectively, Clinton was attempting damage control when questions were thrown up about the US-Pakistan relationship, and even when pressed, refused to endorse the no-holds-barred statements by Mullen. When pressed Clinton said, I would urge people to look at the entirety of Admiral Mullens testimony. He did raise serious questions, which our government has raised with the Pakistanis about the continuing safe haven for terrorists that strike across the border in Afghanistan against Afghans, Americans, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation International Security Assistance Force troops, civilians working there, as well as within Pakistan, she said.