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LONDON-Britain is "gravely concerned" at Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency and urged him to act within the constitution, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Saturday.Britain recognised the threats to peace and security in Pakistan, but its future lay in "harnessing the power of democracy and the rule of law to achieve the goals of stability, development and countering terrorism"," he said."I am gravely concerned by the measures adopted today, which will take Pakistan further from these goals," he said in a statement issued by his office."It is vital that the government acts in accordance with the constitution and abides by the commitment to hold free and fair elections on schedule which President Musharraf reiterated to the (British) Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) when they spoke on November 1," he added.Musharraf declared a state of emergency earlier Saturday, citing judicial interference in the business of government and the threat from Islamic militancy as the reason.Miliband said London would raise its concerns with Islamabad "at the highest levels". The foreign secretary said he would speak personally with his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Kasuri."We are working closely with friends of Pakistan across the international community to encourage all parties to show restraint and to work together for a peaceful and democratic resolution," Miliband said."We hope that the strong communities in the United Kingdom of Pakistani origin will also use their contacts through family and business to make the case for democracy and the rule of law."Miliband visited Pakistan in July, meeting Musharraf and Kasuri for talks on the need to crackdown on Taliban extremists using the lawless western regions of the country for attacks on coalition forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.There are also historic links between the two countries: Pakistan was created in 1947 by the partition of India after Britain left as a colonial power.At the last nationwide census in 2001, there were nearly 750,000 people Pakistanis living in Britain, the largest proportion of the country's two million or so people of south Asian origin.As in the days of Noah....
