Pressure on Musharraf to lift state of emergency

Pakistan’s opposition called on General Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, saying elections would be a sham unless citizens’ rights were fully restored.

Musharraf said yesterday he would stick to a January schedule for the polls, but set no time limit on emergency rule, which has resulted in the arrests of thousands of his critics, a ban on rallies and the blacking out of independent TV networks.