Washington, Nov 17: A resolution introduced in the US Congress has condemned the imposition of martial law in Pakistan, and has called on President George Bush to suspend military assistance to Pakistan.

The resolution was moved by New York Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

Ackerman’s resolution calls on Musharraf to reinstate the Constitution, release all those arrested during his crackdown, allow independent media to re-open, schedule parliamentary elections for January and step down as Army Chief.

The measure also calls on Bush to suspend all military assistance to Pakistan as well as all sales and transfers of military equipment until the conditions described in the resolution have been met.

"The pictures from Islamabad don’t show any Al Qaeda or Taliban terrorists being arrested, but they do show that Musharraf is intent on keeping his job by engaging in a brutal crackdown on opposition politicians, lawyers and human rights activists," Ackerman said.

"The Bush Administration has, for too long, relied on one man to achieve our anti-terrorism objectives in Pakistan," said Ackerman.

"Bush has ignored democratic development there and turned a blind eye as President Pervez Musharraf has manipulated the political process to ensure his continued tenure in office," he said.

Ackerman added that Musharraf has made and the broken repeated promises to step down as Army Chief and to restore legitimate civilian democratic government in Pakistan.

"He made deals with al Qaeda supporters in North and South Waziristan and those deals strengthened our enemies. Officials in his government sold nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea and Iran," he said.

"Yet, at every turn Musharraf has received a pass from President Bush. Instead of arresting the terrorists who pose an existential threat to his regime if not the nation, Musharraf is arresting the very people with whom he could have worked to develop the political support necessary to rid Pakistan of extremists," Ackerman claimed.

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, Ackerman blasted the Bush Administration for the current unrest in Pakistan, the Daily Times reported. (ANI)