US to review aid, urges early poll

PAKISTAN IN EMERGENCY

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would review billions of dollars of aid to Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule.

"Obviously we are going to have to review the situation with aid, in part because we have to see what may be triggered by certain statutes," Rice told reporters travelling with her in Jerusalem.

Pakistan has received about $10 billion US aid since 2001, with much of that in counter-terrorism assistance. Rice did not say which aid would be reviewed but she made clear there were ongoing counter-terrorism concerns in and around Pakistan that must be faced.

"We have to be very cognisant of the fact that some of the assistance that has been going directly to Pakistan is directly related to counter-terrorism missions. This is a complicated matter," she said.

Pakistan is this year receiving about $700 million in US economic and military assistance and is expected to get more than $800 million in 2008. It also receives billions of dollars in counter-terrorism assistance.

"The United States is deeply disturbed by reports that Pakistani President (Pervez) Musharraf has taken extra-constitutional actions and has imposed a state of emergency," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement. In London, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed concern. "I am gravely concerned by the measures adopted, which will take Pakistan further from these goals," he said in a statement.

China, a close ally of Pakistan, also expressed concern and hoped Pakistan could maintain stability and development. "We are concerned about the situation in Pakistan, and believe the Pakistani government and people are capable of solving their problems," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Japan said it "has constantly supported Pakistan's war on terror and its efforts to establish democracy."

"Japan strongly hopes that Pakistan will soon restore normalcy and return to the process of democratisation," japan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Voicing concern, France's foreign ministry said Paris "wants dialogue between all Pakistani political forces to guarantee stability and democracy in this great country, which is a partner and a friend."

European Union's executive arm in Brussels also expressed concern over the development.