ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari will address parliament for the first time this weekend, officials said, amid mounting concerns over direct US strikes in its tribal areas.

Mr Zardari, who was sworn into office on September 9 and succeeds Pervez Musharraf, has summoned both houses of parliament to meet at 3pm (0900 GMT) on Saturday for his address, a government statement said.

The widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and co-chairman of her Pakistan People's Party, Mr Zardari sailed into presidency smoothly despite a controversial past.

Mr Musharraf resigned on August 19 after the coalition government threatened to impeach him over constitutional violations including his failure to address the parliament annually.

Mr Musharraf addressed the parliament only once during his eight-year rule, when opposition politicians booed and chanted hostile slogans.

Officials did not reveal what Mr Zardari planned to say in his address.

'It is an important event and the president is addressing the parliament in less than 15 days after taking the oath,' senior presidential aide Farhatullah Babar said.

'It is normally a speech prepared by the government in which the president reviews the entire working of the government and enunciates its domestic and foreign policies.'

His address comes as Pakistan faces incursions and missile strikes against alleged Al-Qaeda linked militants in its tribal areas by US-led forces based in Afghanistan.

Mr Zardari is due to meet US President George W. Bush for the first time on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. -- AFP