United States President George W Bush has called on his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf to hold elections as soon as possible. Bush also asked Musharraf to shed his military uniform.
In his first public comments since the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan, Bush expressed hope that Musharraf would restore democracy as quickly as possible but declined to say what steps the United States will take if the General defied American advice.
"...I asked Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice to call him and convey that we expect there to be elections as soon as possible and that the president should remove his military
uniform," he said at the White House after a session with Turkey's visiting prime minister.
"I certainly hope he does take my advice. All we can do is to continue to work with the president as well as others in the Pak government to make the position of the United States abundantly clear. And then, obviously, we'll deal with it if something other than that happens," Bush said.
However, Bush praised the role of Musharraf in the war on terror and said that the US wants to continue working with him in this regard.
"President Musharraf has been a strong fighter against extremists and radicals; he understands the dangers posed by radicals and extremists," said Bush.
"We want to continue working with him to fight these terrorists and extremists who not only have tried to kill him, but who use parts of his country to launch attacks into Afghanistan and for plotting attacks on America," he said