ISLAMABAD, 14 November 2007 — The United States announced yesterday that it will send senior US diplomat John Negroponte to Pakistan to press President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule and hold transparent elections as Benazir Bhutto set about cobbling together an opposition front against the military ruler.

Negroponte “should be arriving at the end of the week,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. He told reporters he expected Negroponte would be delivering the same message sent out publicly by President George W. Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice since emergency rule in recent days. “We want to see elections move forward, and move forward in a free, fair and transparent manner,” he said. “We want to see the emergency decree lifted.”

His comments came as Benazir worked to unite Pakistan’s fractious opposition against the state of emergency Musharraf imposed on the country on Nov. 3. Barred from stepping out of her villa in the eastern city of Lahore, Benazir said it was time for Musharraf to resign. He must quit as president,” Benazir told Reuters news agency in a telephone interview as police bundled small clusters of her protesting supporters into vans.

A Pakistan People’s Party spokesman holed up with her in her house quoted Benazir as saying she wanted to build an alliance with other political leaders including former Premier Nawaz Sharif. “I would like to consult with all of them, including Nawaz Sharif. I want to build an alliance, a single point agenda for the restoration of democracy,” she was quoted as saying.

Sharif welcomed Benazir’s call for Musharraf to resign and urged her and other opposition parties to work together for the restoration of top judges Musharraf sacked when he declared emergency. “What I’m hearing on TV, her statements today that she has cut off all her links with Pervez Musharraf and wants him to resign from both offices, I think it is a positive development and a step toward achieving the objectives of the opposition,” he said by telephone from Jeddah.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said he would launch a joint opposition campaign with Benazir if she agreed to boycott elections.

Benazir phoned Imran and other political leaders opposed to Musharraf’s imposition of emergency.

“I spoke to Benazir Bhutto today. She has talked about boycotting elections which is a welcome step,” Imran told Geo television from an undisclosed location where he is in hiding after escaping house arrest.

Musharraf has promised elections by Jan. 9 but opposition parties say they will be meaningless if held under emergency rule.

“We should all boycott these fraudulent elections under emergency rule and on this point we can run a joint campaign,” Imran said. “We should all agree that until courts are not restored to pre-emergency status, we should not take part in elections.”

The government meanwhile rejected a Commonwealth deadline to end emergency rule in 10 days or face suspension. “Pakistan expresses deep disappointment and regret over the statement issued by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) yesterday,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

—Additional input from agencies