Pakistan emergency rule troubles US

WASHINGTON: The United States Saturday voiced strong disapproval of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, which pointed to limits in Washington's ability to direct a key ally in its war on terror.   

"This action is very disappointing. President Musharraf needs to stand by his pledges to have free and fair elections in January and step down as chief of army staff before retaking the presidential oath of office," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in a reaction to Musharraf's move that "the US has made clear that it does not support extra-constitutional measures because those measures would take Pakistan away from the path of democracy and civilian rule."   

"We will be urging for a quick return to a constitutional order, we will be urging that the commitment to hold free and fair elections be kept and we would be urging calm among the parties," Rice told reporters in Istanbul on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq.

"Anything that is extra-constitutional, anything that takes Pakistan off the democratic path, off the path of civilian rule, is a very big problem," she said separately in an interview with CNN news.   

Musharraf, facing a possible paring back of his power as both political and military supremo in his country, had declared a state of emergency on Saturday, sacking the chief justice of the Supreme Court and blaming judicial interference in government and a wave of Islamic militant attacks.   

Troops and police surrounded the Supreme Court in Islamabad, which had been due in coming days to give a verdict on the legality of Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election.   

Musharraf was also under pressure to give up his post as army chief of staff, part of what was expected to be the country's transition to civilian rule in a US-backed proposed power-sharing deal between him and just-returned former leader Benazir Bhutto.   

The United States has long been troubled by Musharraf's resistance to strengthening democracy in the Islamic country, even as it has depended heavily on the Pakistani strongman to help pursue Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. 

In early August when Musharraf considered but then decided not to impose a state of emergency to confront growing violence, US President George W. Bush spoke out, saying he was hopeful the country would hold open elections.   

"My focus in terms of the domestic scene is they have a free and fair election. That is what we have been talking about, and hopefully, they will," Bush said at the time.   

But he also at the time renewed calls for full cooperation from Islamabad in the search for Al-Qaeda leaders believed to be holed up along the Pakistan-Afghan border area in remote tribal lands.   

Bush -- while careful to express respect for Pakistan's sovereignty -- said he had "made it clear" to Musharraf "that I expect that there be full cooperation in sharing intelligence" and "swift action" against Al-Qaeda inside Pakistan.   

In early October the US military said it had observed an ongoing Al-Qaeda re-emergence in sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas from where the militant network supported attacks in Afghanistan.   

Rice said the United States has recently been in close contact with Musharraf but declined to say whether Washington had heard of plans to impose emergency rule.   

"I have spoken to President Musharraf over the last several days," she told CNN. "Our ambassador has been in constant contact with President Musharraf and with members of the Pakistani government, and so have other high-ranking officials."   

"We expect that that pledge to hold free and fair elections is going to be upheld," she added, when asked if she trusted Musharraf to pursue the elections due in January.   

"We have communicated very clearly to the Pakistanis that the whole thing of free and fair elections is an absolute necessity."   

A Petagon spokesman Sunday said there was no plan to suspend military aid to Pakistan in response to Musharraf's declaration of emergency.