Bush says spoke to Musharraf, urged elections

MOUNT VERNON, Va., Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W Bush said today he had spoken to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and urged him to both hold elections and give up his military post.

It was the first time Bush has spoken directly to Musharraf since he declared a state of emergency in Pakistan last Saturday.

''My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform. You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time,'' Bush said at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

''I had a very frank discussion with him, Bush said.

Bush, who traveled with Sarkozy to tour the home of the first US president in Mount Vernon south of Washington, said his conversation with Musharraf took place just before the two leaders left for their trip.

REUTERS MP AS0311