Pakistani police clash with lawyers
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (Agencies): Legions of police firing tear gas and swinging batons clashed with lawyers Monday as security forces across Pakistan blockaded courts to quash protests against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency. At least 350 were detained n the biggest gathering, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road to stage a rally - in defiance of a police warnings not to violate a ban on demonstrations - hundreds of officers stormed inside.
Police swung batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse the lawyers, who responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches. The protesters shouted "Go Musharraf Go!"
About 250 lawyers were bundled into waiting vans, an Associated Press reporter saw. At least two were bleeding from the head.
"The lawyers initiated trouble by throwing stones at police, and it forced us to take action against them," said Aftab Cheema, the city police chief.
Sarfraz Cheema, a senior lawyer at the rally, condemned the police action. "This police brutality against peaceful lawyers shows how the government of a dictator wants to silence those who are against dictatorship," he said. "We don't accept the proclamation of emergency."
Clashes were also reported in Karachi and Multan as lawyers in major cities attempted to stage protests against Musharraf's emergency declaration on Saturday that he says was a response to growing militant Islamic movement and a court system that hindered his powers.
Musharraf took the step despite the urging of Western allies against authoritarian measures. The emergency declaration has deepened Pakistan's political uncertainty. Musharraf's government said Sunday that parliamentary elections could be delayed up to a year.
Alarmed about the unfolding crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan, which has received about $11 billion from the US since it became a close ally in fighting terrorism in 2001. Britain also said it was examining its assistance.
"Some of the aid that goes to Pakistan is directly related to the counterterrorism mission," Rice told reporters on a trip to the Middle East. "We just have to review the situation."
But Rice said she did not expect the US "to ignore or set aside our concerns about terrorism."
The US Embassy said Monday that a US-Pakistan defense cooperation meeting planned for this week had been postponed amid the current uncertainty in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's largest religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, reported that more than 500 of its workers and supporters had been detained since Sunday. Liaqat Baloch, a senior party leader, also said by telephone from Lahore that he had fled his home after hearing he would be placed under house arrest.
Lawyers were the driving force behind protests earlier this year against the US-allied military leader when he made a failed attempt to fire the independent-minded chief justice. The move tarnished Musharraf's standing and spawned a pro-democracy movement that threatened to end his eight-year rule.
Musharraf finally removed the judge, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, on Saturday, just as the court was preparing to rule on whether the military chief's recent re-election as president was legal.
Investors took fright at the prospect of growing instability, sending the Karachi Stock Exchange's main share index down more than 4 percent Monday
Police swung batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse the lawyers, who responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches. The protesters shouted "Go Musharraf Go!"
About 250 lawyers were bundled into waiting vans, an Associated Press reporter saw. At least two were bleeding from the head.
"The lawyers initiated trouble by throwing stones at police, and it forced us to take action against them," said Aftab Cheema, the city police chief.
Sarfraz Cheema, a senior lawyer at the rally, condemned the police action. "This police brutality against peaceful lawyers shows how the government of a dictator wants to silence those who are against dictatorship," he said. "We don't accept the proclamation of emergency."
Clashes were also reported in Karachi and Multan as lawyers in major cities attempted to stage protests against Musharraf's emergency declaration on Saturday that he says was a response to growing militant Islamic movement and a court system that hindered his powers.
Musharraf took the step despite the urging of Western allies against authoritarian measures. The emergency declaration has deepened Pakistan's political uncertainty. Musharraf's government said Sunday that parliamentary elections could be delayed up to a year.
Alarmed about the unfolding crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan, which has received about $11 billion from the US since it became a close ally in fighting terrorism in 2001. Britain also said it was examining its assistance.
"Some of the aid that goes to Pakistan is directly related to the counterterrorism mission," Rice told reporters on a trip to the Middle East. "We just have to review the situation."
But Rice said she did not expect the US "to ignore or set aside our concerns about terrorism."
The US Embassy said Monday that a US-Pakistan defense cooperation meeting planned for this week had been postponed amid the current uncertainty in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's largest religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, reported that more than 500 of its workers and supporters had been detained since Sunday. Liaqat Baloch, a senior party leader, also said by telephone from Lahore that he had fled his home after hearing he would be placed under house arrest.
Lawyers were the driving force behind protests earlier this year against the US-allied military leader when he made a failed attempt to fire the independent-minded chief justice. The move tarnished Musharraf's standing and spawned a pro-democracy movement that threatened to end his eight-year rule.
Musharraf finally removed the judge, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, on Saturday, just as the court was preparing to rule on whether the military chief's recent re-election as president was legal.
Investors took fright at the prospect of growing instability, sending the Karachi Stock Exchange's main share index down more than 4 percent Monday