WASHINGTON, June 8: Imposition of emergency would be a step backward for Pakistan and the United States hopes President Pervez Musharraf doesn’t take such action, a senior US official said on Thursday.

The official told Reuters the Bush administration was not aware of any plans by Gen Musharraf to declare emergency rule but acknowledged fears among Pakistanis that this could happen.

“If he did that, it would be a significant step backward and ... of course we would not want it to happen,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Gen Musharraf has triggered the biggest challenge to his authority since taking power in 1999 when he suspended three months ago the chief justice of Pakistan.

The crisis has led to speculation Gen Musharraf might declare a state of emergency but he has repeatedly ruled that out and said elections due at the end of the year would be on time.

The United States is following the political turmoil in Pakistan intently but “I don’t see anything right now that causes me great alarm” in terms of President Musharraf possibly being overthrown, the US official added.

Aiming to control the widening protests, the Pakistani government detained hundreds of opposition activists and clamped down on the broadcast media.

The U.S. official said the administration opposed the media crackdown, saying such tactics were “always counterproductive”. The official noted that Musharraf had said he would do nothing to circumvent the Pakistani constitution.—Reuters