BRUSSELS, Dec 17: The European Union will send a 50-member team to monitor parliamentary elections in Pakistan on Jan 8 if the country can ensure that observers can operate safely and freely, officials said on Monday.

The European Commission welcomed the lifting of state of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf but urged him to ensure a free and fair vote, EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said.

“It is essential for all restrictions on political rights and fundamental freedoms to be lifted in advance of parliamentary elections,” he told reporters.

“We thus appeal to the government to take further steps to enhance confidence in the political process.”—AP