Negroponte to visit Pakistan, urge end to emergency

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte will visit Pakistan this week to urge President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule and hold elections, the State Department said on Tuesday.

"We continue to want to see elections move forward and move forward in a free, fair and transparent manner. We want to see the emergency decree lifted," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters, summarizing Negroponte's message.

He said Negroponte was expected to be in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation, a long-time U.S. ally and major aid recipient, at the end of the week.

Casey said he did not know whether Negroponte would meet Musharraf, who seized power in 1999 in bloodless coup but was embraced by the United States when he agreed to help Washington in its struggle against al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.

Musharraf declared emergency rule on November 3 and has suspended the constitution, sacked judges, locked up lawyers and rounded up thousands of activists in what is widely regarded as an effort to cling to power.

Pakistani officials on Monday placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for seven days in the provincial city of Lahore, a move that appeared designed to prevent her from leading protests against emergency rule.

Bhutto on Tuesday called for Musharraf to step down as president, dealing a blow to U.S. hopes that the two might find a way to share power.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted Musharraf's announcement that he planned to hold elections in January -- backing away from plans to delay them until mid-February -- but stressed the need for them to be free and fair.