Protesters, Police Continue to Clash in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 5, 2007 — -- President Bush expressed dismay Monday over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf 's declaration of emergency in Pakistan and said he directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Musharraf to deliver the message that "that we expect there to be elections as soon as possible and that the president should remove his military uniform."

Even as he was critical of Musharraf's actions, Bush called him a "strong fighter against extremists and radicals." Bush added that Musharraf "understands the dangers posed by radicals and extremists. After all, they tried to kill him three or four times."

Bush said he hopes Musharraf will "restore democracy as quickly as possible."

Earlier in the day, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that while Musharraf had taken Pakistan "pretty far along the path to democracy," his declaration of emergency Saturday "is definitely a setback."

In Pakistan, several thousand protesters, mostly lawyers who have led much of the opposition against Musharraf, continued to clash with police on Monday.

In Lahore, police used tear gas and stones in an attempt to quell the protesters. Dozens of them were arrested, but they remained defiant in what has been the most violent day since Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, a key ally to the United States in the war on terror.

About 3,500 protesters have been arrested, according to The Associated Press.

While U.S. officials have expressed dismay over Musharraf's actions, the administration has not said it would cut off billions of dollars of military aid to Pakistan.

"We will review all of our assistance programs. And we are going to be mindful that we should not undermine any of our counterterrorism efforts there either," Perino said.

She argued the administration needs more time with the Pakistan issue -- answering to critics who say the White House won't do anything significant:

"I think critics are going to say a lot of things, but we are just 48 hours into this and I think it deserves a thorough review, a comprehensive review, and not something that we should rush in terms of any actions that we take. If and when actions are taken, they will be done after a thorough and comprehensive review," Perino said.