British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the House of Commons on Monday evening that it was "regrettable" the elections were delayed by six weeks to Feb 18 following the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto but advised that the period "needs to be used to build confidence in the democratic process."

Miliband welcomed Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf's decision to quit as army chief, to lift the state of emergency, to release political detainees and to rescind most media restrictions.

"But more needs to be done, and we have continued to stress the Pakistani government's responsibility to create a level playing field under which credible and transparent elections can take place. This means that all remaining political detainees need to be released and the remaining restrictions on the media must be lifted," he said.