ISLAMABAD - The United States and Britain heaped pressure on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, urging him to hold elections on time, as police detained hundreds of lawyers angry at his imposition of emergency rule.
Musharraf cited spiralling militancy and hostile judges to justify Saturday's action, and slapped reporting curbs on the media in a bid to stop outrage spilling onto the streets amid Pakistan's biggest crisis since he took power in a 1999 coup.
General Musharraf's move heightened a sense of uncertainty in nuclear-armed Pakistan and he had to shoot down rumours sweeping the country on Monday that he had been put under house arrest.
"It is a joke of the highest order," Musharraf told Reuters from the Presidency 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.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Musharraf, who is usually praised by U.S. officials for his cooperation in fighting al Qaeda 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.
POLL DATE UNCERTAIN
Polls had been expected in January, but the timing is now undecided following imposition of the emergency.
The United States has put future aid to Pakistan under review, having provided $10 billion in the past five years.
"Pakistan is a country of great strategic importance to the United States and a key partner in the war on terror. However, the actions of the past 72 hours have been disturbing," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to China as the Pentagon postponed defence talks with Pakistan due this week.
Security in Pakistan has deteriorated sharply since July, when commandos stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque to crush an armed Islamist movement. Since then nearly 800 people have been killed in militant-linked violence, half of them by suicide attacks.
Britain also warned Pakistan on future funding.
