By Tabassum Zakaria and Simon Gardner

CRAWFORD/ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday he was taking Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at his word that elections would be held early next year, but he also emphasized that Washington needed Pakistan's cooperation in fighting al Qaeda.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto described Pakistan as a pressure cooker about to explode, while Musharraf's government tightened screws on media by ordering out three British journalists.

Musharraf has sacked most of the country's judges, put senior ones under house arrest, and ordered police to round up most of the opposition leadership and anyone else deemed troublesome.

He has also placed curbs on media. Private news channels are off the air and transmissions of BBC and CNN have been blocked, though newspapers are publishing freely.

While calling for Pakistan to return to a path of democracy after Musharraf invoked emergency powers a week ago and suspended the constitution, Bush made clear the United States needed the cooperation that Pakistan has provided in hunting for al Qaeda members since the Sept. 11 attacks.

'COMMON GOAL'

Bush, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his Texas ranch, stressed the dangers of al Qaeda as much as the need for Pakistan to return to a path of democracy.

"We do share a common goal, and that is to eradicate al Qaeda," Bush said. "I vowed to the American people we'd keep the pressure on them (al Qaeda). I fully understand we need cooperation to do so, and one country that we need cooperation from is Pakistan."

Bush, who spoke with Musharraf earlier this week, said they had not spoken since, "but he knows my position."

Bush praised Musharraf for helping the United States hunt for al Qaeda after Sept. 11 and pointed out that the Pakistani leader had taken "positive steps" by saying he would hold elections early next year and give up his military position.

"I take a person for his word until otherwise. I think that's what you have to do," Bush said. "When somebody says this is what they're going to do, then you give them a chance to do it."

Stephen Hadley, White House national security adviser, said that at critical moments, especially after Sept. 11, when Musharraf had made decisions, he had honored his promises.

"He has been true to his word, so there is a track record we have with this man," Hadley said.

U.S. forces have been hunting for al Qaeda members in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

Bush said both Musharraf and Bhutto understood the dangers of al Qaeda. "I believe that we will continue to have good collaboration with the leadership in Pakistan," he said.

But he also said he hoped Pakistani democracy would get "back on track as quickly as possible."

Bhutto, the Pakistani politician most capable of rousing mass protests, was stopped from leaving her Islamabad residence on Friday to lead a rally in neighboring Rawalpindi, where police used tear gas to disperse her followers.

A detention order against her was later lifted due in part to pressure from the United States, but when she tried on Saturday to visit Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest for the past week, she was stopped from approaching his house.

ELECTIONS PROMISED BY FEB. 15

Musharraf cited a hostile judiciary and rising militancy as the reasons for his authoritarian measures. He has sacked most Supreme Court judges and replaced them with friendlier faces.

Critics say Musharraf wanted to pre-empt a possible decision by the court to rule his Oct. 6 presidential election victory invalid because he contested while army chief.

Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, has said elections will be held by Feb. 15 -- about a month later than they were due. He also said he would quit as army chief and be sworn in as a civilian president once new judges struck down challenges to his re-election.

Bhutto had been holding power-sharing talks with Musharraf for months and political analysts say cooperation between the pair -- favored by the United States -- could still be possible. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan in Texas, Kamran Haider in Pakistan; Editing by Xavier Briand)

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