ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.

Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan's army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his re-election was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, stripped media freedoms and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.

Though public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers. All have been quickly stamped out.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

At a news conference in the West Bank today, Rice urged Musharraf to follow through on past promises to "take off his uniform."

"I want to be very clear," she said, as a team of U.S. defense officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks Tuesday because of the crisis. "We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections."

Britain also said it was reviewing its aid package to Pakistan, and the Dutch government suspended its aid.

Musharraf reiterated to foreign ambassadors today that he was committed to complete the transition to democracy, though, under a state of emergency, elections scheduled for January could be pushed back by up to a year, according to the government.

His leadership is threatened by the Islamic militant movement that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of political rival and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and an increasingly defiant Supreme Court.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Israel and the Palestinians are "moving toward an understanding" that a U.S.-sponsored conference can be a forum to restart long-stalled peace talks.Rice, speaking at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also said she was "tremendously impressed by the seriousness" Israeli and Palestinian leaders have shown in moving toward renewed peace talks. "I'm quite confident that the will is there on both sides that people want to end this conflict," she added.The Mideast peace conference is expected to take place in late November or early December in Annapolis, Md., but no date has been set so far because the two sides are at odds over what sort of joint peace outline they hope to present at the meeting.