ISLAMABAD (AFP) — President Pervez Musharraf promised Sunday that Pakistan would hold general elections by January 9 but indicated the state of emergency he imposed a week ago would stay in place until then.
He said parliament would be dissolved Thursday and an election commission would fix an exact date for the vote, with a caretaker government to run the country in the interim.
Musharraf, who grabbed power in a coup in 1999, defended emergency rule as in Pakistan's interests and said taking the step had been the hardest decision of his life.
"We should have elections before the ninth of January," he told his first press conference since imposing emergency rule.
"I leave it to the election commission to decide on the exact date."
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto gave his announcement a cautious welcome, saying it would not be enough on its own to defuse the crisis gripping the nuclear-armed nation.
The new timetable effectively brings the elections process back to what it was before emergency rule, and meets a key demand of the beleaguered leader's critics at home and abroad.
At the same time, the military ruler indicated the emergency would last until the polls "to ensure absolutely fair and transparent elections."
Musharraf, a vital US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has been under intense international pressure to backtrack since last weekend, when he suspended the constitution and sacked Pakistan's chief justice.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the step towards elections but said emergency rule must also be lifted "as soon as possible."
She said that while the United States was reviewing aid to Pakistan, it would do nothing to compromise the fight against terrorism.
"The road to democratic development is not smooth and even. This is clearly a situation that is not perfect," she added.
"But if the suggestion is that we somehow now abandon a course that could lead back to a path of democracy for Pakistan, I think that would be a mistake on our part."
Musharraf said the emergency was needed to counter growing Islamic extremist violence and a meddlesome judiciary, although critics point to its timing just days ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of his re-election.
"It was the most difficult decision of my life," he said.
"I found myself between a rock and a hard surface. I stand by it because I think it was in the national interest."
He reiterated a promise to quit as army chief and take the oath of office for a second term as a civilian as soon as the top court, now stripped of its chief justice and other judges who refused to endorse emergency rule, stamps that October 6 victory.
Bhutto, who is planning a huge march on Islamabad, said the timetable for elections was "a positive step."
The former premier cautioned, however, that the government must still lift the emergency and that there were many other outstanding issues to be resolved.
"Our society has been given conflicting signals," she said in the eastern city of Lahore ahead of Tuesday's planned march.
Bhutto is the only figure seen as capable of mustering a serious challenge to Musharraf, and the march -- if it is allowed to go ahead -- is set to draw the biggest crowds yet against his government.
Authorities placed her under house arrest Friday to prevent her leading a rally in Rawalpindi, citing fears of a repeat of the suicide bombing that hit her Karachi homecoming parade last month, killing 139 people.
At least 250 of her party supporters were rounded up Sunday in a series of swoops in southern Sindh province, mostly in her stronghold Karachi.
Human Rights Watch dismissed Musharraf's announcement in a statement as a "cynical sop" to deflect criticism of his "power grab."
Britain welcomed the step but called for "urgent action" on restoring the constitution, freeing political prisoners, lifting curbs on the media and for Musharraf to stand down as army chief.
The reaction came amid reports the United States has developed secret contingency plans to safeguard Pakistan's nuclear weapons if they risk falling into the wrong hands in the volatile political climate.
But US officials worry their limited knowledge about the location of the arsenal could pose a problem, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
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