Musharraf gives date for election but purge of opponents continues

After days of intense international pressure to end emergency rule, Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, has pledged that parliamentary elections will be held before 15 February. "It was my commitment and I am fulfilling it," he told state media.

General Musharraf also signalled that he would stand down as army chief once the newly constituted Supreme Court had decided on the legality of his election for a further five years as president.

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The announcement came a day after the first direct intervention by President George Bush – in the form of a phone call urging General Musharraf to proceed with elections and to step down as army chief – and threats from Benazir Bhutto to initiate public protests, the first of which is a rally to be held in the garrison town of Rawalpindi today.

Ms Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan's largest opposition party, dismissed his announcement as falling short of her demands. "We want an election date, we want a retirement date," she told reporters after a meeting with her party leadership on the outskirts of Islamabad. "This is a vague statement. We want the uniform off by November 15."

Farhatullah Babar, Ms Bhutto's spokesman, added: "General Musharraf has not given the schedule of the elections, which has to be given by the election commission. These are just vague promises which he has been breaking and making in the past.

"As far as the Supreme Court is concerned, which has been hand-picked, it is itself mired in controversy. Whatever verdict they deliver, I don't think people will accept it."

Elections had been scheduled for 16 January but General Musharraf imposed emergency rule last Saturday amid signs that the Supreme Court might rule that his re-election for a further term as president while also still head of the military, was illegal. Yesterday he indicated that he expected the newly constituted Supreme Court, composed of loyalists, to confirm his election.

Hundreds of Ms Bhutto's supporters in the Pakistan People's Party throughout the province of Punjab were rounded up yesterday in an effort to halt the Rawalpindi rally, which has been banned by the government. Roads leading to the town have all been closed and significant numbers of police are manning checkpoints along various routes.

"There is a massive crackdown taking place in Punjab and a lot of people have been arrested – perhaps a thousand – and a lot of people are underground themselves," said Raza Rabbani, the PPP's leader of the opposition in the senate. "The pick-up started as of [Wednesday] night. It's an ongoing process.

"Well, obviously we are worried, we are a peaceful party, no matter what they try, but if the admin is bent upon foiling our attempt... There are security risks, but the risks to Pakistan right now are greater."

The Supreme Court was to rule on the legality of General Musharraf's election within days of emergency rule being imposed. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other judges were sacked and placed under house arrest and a fresh bench was sworn in after they rejected the emergency decree. There was no suggestion of when emergency rule would end – though the attorney general, Malik Qayyum, said it may take "one or two months".

The rally in Rawalpindi, where suicide bombers have struck twice in the past two months near the army headquarters, will be Ms Bhutto's first since her return from exile on 18 October. Bombers targeted her homecoming procession in Karachi killing 139.

Human rights campaigners condemned the detention of Ali Ahmed Kurd, a leading lawyer noted for his fiery speeches against military rule, who has not been heard from since being arrested on Saturday night. "We have received credible reports that Kurd may be in the custody of Pakistan's feared ISI intelligence agency," said Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch. "He has been one of General Musharraf's most strident critics. The ISI have a well-documented history of perpetrating torture on its opponents."