STRASBOURG, Nov 14: The European Union urged caution about cutting off aid to Pakistan on Wednesday while stepping up calls for President Pervez Musharraf to lift emergency rule.

“Any measures to suspend cooperation... would strike a population which is already struck with many difficulties,” said Portuguese European Affairs Minister Manuel Lobo Antunes, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

“Such a stop in cooperation has to be looked at closely indeed,” he added, addressing the European Parliament.—AFP