Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf abandoned plans to impose a national state of emergency because he is “committed to democracy,” a Pakistani government spokesman said on Thursday.

Emergency rule would have curbed the power of the courts and restricted the population’s civil liberties. Under emergency rule, President Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, would also have been able to delay Pakistan’s November national elections and therefore keep himself in power longer.

Musharraf’s hold on power has become tenuous as he faces a deteriorating situation at Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, mounting pressure from the West to aggressively fight Islamic extremist groups, a growing movement of radical Islam in his own nation, an increasingly independent court system, and declining popularity.

His diminishing popularity is partly a result of his wobbly balancing act between keeping his Western allies and the Islamic population happy. Recent moves to please the U.S. and bolster his power have politically backfired.

Just last month, Musharraf faced fierce public condemnation after a siege on the capital’s radical Red Mosque resulted in more than a hundred deaths.

Musharraf also endured fierce criticism after suspending the nation’s chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, on charges of abuse of power in March. He was forced to reinstate the justice after a long and vocal opposition campaign.

Musharraf’s latest move to shore up power by declaring emergency rule caused similar widespread criticism in Pakistan and even sparked concern in Washington.

A few hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Musharraf, the Pakistani president called off his decision.

Musharraf’s political misfortunes and undemocratic measures place the Bush administration in a tough spot, since supporting a democratic movement in Pakistan will most likely remove one of its most valuable allies in the war against terrorism.

With or without U.S. support, growing radical Islamic opposition and the declining popularity of President Musharraf makes it very likely that the U.S. will have to deal with another radical Islamic state in its war against terrorism in the future.

To read more on Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S., read “Pakistan: Friend or Foe?”