President Bush said Monday he was “deeply concerned” at a crackdown on opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of elections, and called for their release from detention.

“I am deeply concerned about the detention of numerous human rights activists and political leaders who participated in peaceful rallies in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Nazran this weekend.

“I am particularly troubled by the use of force by law enforcement authorities to stop these peaceful activities and to prevent some journalists and human rights activists from covering them,” Bush said in a statement.

About 200 opposition activists were detained by police at another demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, one week before Russia is to hold parliamentary elections.

“The freedoms of expression, assembly and press, as well as due process, are fundamental to any democratic society,” Bush said in his statement, which followed State Department concerns expressed Sunday over the events in Russia.

“I am hopeful that the government of Russia will honor its international obligations in these areas, investigate allegations of abuses and free those who remain in detention,” the president said.

Police and soldiers emboldened by state of emergency powers swept up hundreds of activists and opposition members on Sunday, and turned government buildings into barbed-wire compounds.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s government said parliamentary elections could be delayed up to a year as it tries to stamp out a growing Islamic militant threat.

Scores of paramilitary troops blocked access to the Supreme Court and parliament. Streets in the capital appeared largely calm, with only a handful of demonstrations. But one, attended by 40 people at the Marriott Hotel, was broken up by baton-wielding police.

Among them were Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency and and terrorist supporter.

Since retiring as head of the ISI, Hamid Gul spends his days meeting with Islamic radicals and giving fiery anti-American speeches. He has said on numerous occasions that Al-Qaeda has a right to possess nuclear weapons, and he considers himself a friend of Osama Bin Laden.

While it may seem like an extreme and anti-Democratic move to suspend the constitution, Musharraf must take any and all necessary actions to purge his government of Islamic extremists. Taliban style Sharia law is rapidly spreading across Pakistan due to the growing numbers of radicals in the northwest area of Pakistan.

These extremists are now spreading from the tribal areas in the northwest to major cities and provinces within Pakistan. The fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power, is all the more reason not to allow Islamic extremism to spread any further and destabilize the central government of Pervez Musharraf.

-Chris Jones