ISLAMABAD, 19 November 2007 — A top US diplomat insisted yesterday that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf end emergency rule in Pakistan and free his political rivals ahead of elections.

“I urged the government to stop such actions, lift the state of emergency and release all political detainees,” US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told a news conference at the heavily guarded US Embassy at the end of his visit early yesterday. “Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections.”

Negroponte’s comments came after Musharraf was quoted in the media as telling the US emissary a day earlier that he would call off emergency rule only when the security situation improved in the South Asian country.

Hours after Negroponte spoke yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said the government was taking steps to hold free and fair elections. He said any decision on lifting the emergency would “be taken according to the ground situation.”

Opposition leaders say any vote held under emergency rule cannot be considered credible. They say most of those targeted under the emergency, which has seen opponents jailed, Supreme Court judges purged and independent TV stations muffled, are pro-Western moderates, not the Islamic extremists Musharraf said he needed to combat when he suspended the constitution on Nov. 3.

In a case crucial to shaping the political future of the country, Pakistan’s top court will resume hearings today on the legality of Musharraf’s re-election. Judicial officials said judges would take up challenges suspended when Musharraf declared emergency rule, days before the Supreme Court was to have given its own verdict. The court has since been stripped of most of the judges who refused to sign an oath legitimizing the state of emergency, and they have been replaced by others who have signed a new oath.

The ruling is crucial because Musharraf has vowed to step down as head of the powerful army before he is sworn in for a second term as president — so long as the court approves his election win. Shedding his army uniform is one of the main demands of the international community and the opposition, who insist Musharraf cannot be a uniformed officer and a democratic president at the same time.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said new Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, replacing the sacked Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had appointed a new 10-judge panel to begin hearing the case.

Pakistanis Use Blogs to Protest

Defying a growing crackdown on dissent by President Musharraf, young Pakistanis are using blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook to hit back at the state of emergency.

Plans for “flash” protests in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and other cities are being posted at the last minute to skirt a ban on all political rallies under emergency laws.

“We are coordinating protests with other universities across Pakistan using Facebook, using blogs, cell phones and text messages,” Ahmad, a student in his 20s from Lahore, told AFP.

He asked that his full name not be used in case he is traced by the authorities. Protesters can face jail if found guilty of inciting unrest.

“We let students know through Facebook groups and blogs when the protests are taking place. We are having flash protests for five or ten minutes so we do not get caught,” he said.

The most popular Facebook protest group for Pakistan is “We Oppose Emergency in Pakistan,” which had 11,471 members as of yesterday.