Bush Phones Musharraf, Tells Him to Hold Polls, Doff Uniform

WASHINGTON: Stepping personally into the Pakistan political crisis for the first time, US President George W Bush telephoned President Pervez Musharraf and bluntly told him to hold elections as scheduled in January and doff his military uniform.

"I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here. And my message was very plain, very easy to understand. And that is: The United States wants you to have the elections as scheduled and take your uniform off," Bush said.

The US President, who had not spoken to Musharraf since the military ruler declared a state of emergency on November three and launched a bloody crackdown on protesters, was speaking at a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Mount Vernon on Wednesday.

During the 20-minute conversation, Bush said he told Musharraf, "You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time."

Playing down suggestions that double standards were being adopted in the approach towards Pakistan and Myanmar, he said, "Our objective is same in Burma as it is in Pakistan, and that is to promote democracy. There is a difference, however."

"Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hadn't been on the path to democracy. And it requires different tactics to achieve the common objective," he said.

Sarkozy while expressing his concern over situation in Pakistan, said, "It's worrisome, and we need to have elections as swiftly as possible. You cannot combat extremism using the same methods as extremists."