President George W. Bush has urged Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf to quickly return to civilian rule and release people detained under an emergency decree.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the US government was "deeply disturbed" by Gen Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule on Saturday.
Policewomen detain a lawyer during protests against emergency rule outside the provincial high court in Lahore today. Reuters
Mr Bush was expected to make his first public comments on the Pakistan situation after holding White House talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, starting at 6.15pm Irish time, White House officials said.
The Bush administration had appealed to Gen Musharraf not to declare emergency rule.
"We cannot support emergency rule or the extreme measures taken during the emergency," Ms Perino said.
"Such actions are not in Pakistan's best interest and damage the progress Pakistan has made on its path to democracy.
"The president and his advisers . . . right now are urging him to quickly return to civilian rule, to get back on the path of democracy, to restore the freedoms of the press as well as release detainees," she said. "The president continues to urge calm on all of the parties."
Washington has said it will review billions of dollars of aid to Pakistan.
Gen Musharraf cited spiralling militancy and hostile judges to justify Saturday's action. He imposed reporting curbs on the media in a bid to stop "outrage" spilling onto the streets, and police have detained hundreds of lawyers and political activists.
Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said today that Pakistan would go ahead with a general election by mid-January, and the national and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile last month with Gen Musharraf's blessing and amid speculation that the pair could share power after elections that had been expected in January.