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PARIS : US President George W. Bush called Monday on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule, even as European and American officials offered mixed warnings over cutting Pakistani aid.
"We expect there to be elections as soon as possible, and that the president should remove his military uniform," Bush said during a press conference in Washington.
The White House previously said it was "deeply disturbed" by the crisis which has led to mass arrests and street protests in Pakistan.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also "greatly concerned" by the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan and has urged Musharraf to "immediately" free those detained and quickly return to democratic rule, his spokeswoman said.
The Netherlands has already suspended all aid to the country - totalling three million euros (US$4.3 million) - for the remainder of this year and a possible 40 million euros in 2008.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino confirmed that US aid to the country was also under review.
And the US State Department warned that Washington's ties with Islamabad may not "remain the same" unless Musharraf reverses the decree.
But Bush brushed aside questions about what he would do if Musharraf refuses or whether he would cut US aid, saying "all we can do is continue to work with the president" for now and "we'll deal with it" if he does not.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Musharraf on her plane from Tel Aviv where she had been holding talks in connection to an upcoming Middle East peace conference, her spokesman said.
Rice reiterated Washington's insistence that Musharraf, a key US ally in the war on terror, end the state of emergency, hold general elections before January 15 as scheduled and return to the path of democracy, said spokesman Sean McCormack.
There was a "good tone" to their 20-minute conversation, he said.
Meanwhile, the EU warned of "possible further steps" against Islamabad whilst Britain was "considering the implications for our development and other assistance programmes in Pakistan," Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said.
Brown's spokesman said the British leader was "gravely concerned" about the situation in Pakistan. "We are considering the implications for our development and other assistance programmes in Pakistan."
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "This is a defining moment for Pakistan and for its leadership. The whole world will be watching how the transition to democracy... is re-established."
But Miliband added that it was not yet time to threaten an aid cut, which the Netherlands has carried out.
"This is a dramatic coup d'etat that we strongly disapprove of and that undermines Pakistan's democracy, development and population," Dutch Development Aid Minister Bert Koenders told the ANP news agency in announcing the suspension.
Brussels also warned that measures against Pakistan could be on the table.
"There are consultations among member states about possible further steps," said Christiane Hohmann, the European Commission's spokeswoman on external relations.
She declined to say what steps were under consideration - but explained that the European Commission was providing some 50 million euros (US$72 million) in financial assistance to Pakistan in 2007.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said "the events of the latest hours are very negative".
Solana joined British and German government spokesmen in stressing the international community wanted Pakistan to stick to a timetable for elections in January.
For its part, Afghanistan warned that its own situation was under threat from the fallout in neighbouring Pakistan.
"As the French expression says: one sneezes and the other catches a cold. It is the case with Afghanistan and Pakistan," Afghan Information and Culture Minister Abdul Karim.
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard - like Bush another staunch ally of Musharraf - said he had warned the Pakistan leader to reverse his decision in a telephone call Sunday.
"I indicated to him that whilst I retain considerable respect and admiration for the strong stance he has taken against terrorism, that Australia could not support in any way any extra-constitutional behaviour," said the conservative prime minister. - AFP/ch
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