(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-06 09:16

The United States and Britain heaped pressure on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf yesterday, urging him to hold elections on time, as police detained hundreds of lawyers angry at his imposition of emergency rule.

General Musharraf's move heightened a sense of uncertainty and he had to shoot down rumors sweeping the country yesterday that he had been put under house arrest.

"It is a joke of the highest order," Musharraf said from the presidential building in Islamabad where he had just met more than 80 foreign diplomats to explain his decision. He said he was due to play tennis later in the day.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Musharraf, who is usually praised by US officials for his cooperation in fighting Al-Qaida and the Taliban, should quit the army, become a civilian leader and hold national elections due in January.

"We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections," Rice told a news conference during a visit to the West Bank. "President Musharraf has said that he will take off his uniform. That would be an important step."

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Musharraf had assured foreign envoys he was determined to hold elections meant to mark a transition to civilian-led democracy.

The government's top lawyer said yesterday that the government has decided to hold a general election by mid-January.

Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Pakistan's National and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days' time. "It has been decided there would be no delay in the election and by November 15, these assemblies will be dissolved and the election will be held within the next 60 days," Qayyum said.

The US has put future aid to Pakistan under review, having provided $10 billion in the past five years.

Britain also warned Pakistan on future funding. "We are considering the implications for our development and other assistance programs in Pakistan," a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters. "We would like to see confirmation that elections will be held on schedule in January."

Agencies

(China Daily 11/06/2007 page7)