US Encourages End to Emergency Rule

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte delivers a press briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday.

Islamabad: US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Sunday he had urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule.

"Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections," Negroponte told a news conference at the US embassy in Islamabad.

Negroponte met Musharraf on Saturday in the first high-level meeting of a US official with Washington's crucial ally in the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban. READ MORE