Pakistani police clash with lawyers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani police and soldiers quashed planned protests against President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, rounding up lawyers, blocking access to the Supreme Court and beating protesters in several cities, as the country’s political crisis deepened and the international community urged Musharraf to lift emergency rule, which some critics have likened to martial law.
The worst clashes erupted in the eastern city of Lahore, where police fired tear gas and clubbed hundreds of protesting lawyers who fought back with stones and tree branches.
Clashes also took place in Islamabad, the capital, the northwestern city of Peshawar, the southern city of Karachi and elsewhere.
The number of lawyers, human-rights activists and Musharraf political foes arrested or placed under house arrest rose to nearly 2,000 since the army general suspended the constitution Saturday.
With President Bush and other Western leaders urging a return to democracy as soon as possible, government officials indicated Monday that January parliamentary elections might not be delayed as originally announced.
But it was unclear how long Musharraf intends to keep Pakistan under emergency rule.
Musharraf met in the morning with dozens of foreign diplomats, telling them he had no choice but to declare an emergency and suspend the constitution.
He declined to give details of when elections would be held or when he would step down as army chief, as he had promised to do. One Western diplomat called the meeting “uncomfortable and tense” and said Musharraf was “dismissive” of objections to his decision.
Some analysts said emergency rule will exacerbate Pakistan’s problems and create more hurdles for the anti-terror war, more opposition to the military and possibly an increase in Islamic militancy, especially in the border areas where al-Qaida and Taliban supporters hold sway.
“For people who live there, it will be a choice between the militants and the military,” said retired Gen. Talat Masood, a defense and political analyst, adding that most people are opposed to emergency rule. “For even the moderates, it will be a dilemma.”
Other analysts said the role of Musharraf’s fellow generals will be crucial, speculating the powerful military could decide to step in to end the crisis by asking Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 military coup, to step down as army chief.
Musharraf could decide on his own to end emergency rule, give up his second role as army chief and hold elections as planned, some analysts said. But he would have achieved one of his major goals: purging Pakistan’s newly independent judiciary, which has challenged him and could have blocked his continuing hold on power.
The international community strongly urged the government to reconsider Monday.
The U.S. said Sunday it was “reviewing” its aid to Pakistan but indicated Monday it probably would continue sending billions of dollars to Pakistan’s military, which the Bush administration considers crucial to battling Islamic radicals.
In his first public remarks on the crisis, Bush said the U.S. expects Musharraf to remove his uniform, as the leader had promised, and to hold elections “as soon as possible.”
“All we can do is continue to work with the president to make it abundantly clear the position of the United States,” Bush told reporters in the Oval Office. “We made it clear to the president that we hoped he wouldn’t declare the emergency that he’s declared, and at the same time we want to continue working with him to fight these terrorists.”
Britain announced it also is reviewing its aid package to Pakistan. The Dutch government Monday became the first country to suspend aid.
The United Nations secretary-general urged the government to release those detained, end media restrictions and return to democratic rule.
Musharraf told foreign ambassadors in Islamabad that he is committed to completing the transition from military rule to democracy. He said the senior judiciary in Pakistan had “paralyzed various organs of the state and created impediments in the fight against terrorism,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Musharraf has weathered a political crisis sparked when he unsuccessfully tried to fire the country’s chief justice in March. He also has faced increasing calls to step down as army chief.
And he has been confronted with growing complaints at home for supporting the U.S. and the war on terror, as Islamic militants have stepped up their insurgency in Pakistan’s remote tribal areas. Suicide bombs have become far more common in cities.
Musharraf said he declared the emergency because of the increased threat of Islamic militants and interference by the judiciary. But critics believe he wanted to pre-empt a Supreme Court ruling, expected next week, that could have nullified his recent election to another five-year presidential term.
Over the weekend, Musharraf dismissed independent judges and forced others to sign a new oath to him. He fired the chief justice and placed him under house arrest. The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association is in prison.
Government officials said up to 1,800 people had been detained nationwide, The Associated Press reported. Opposition leaders claimed that at least 2,300 of their supporters had been detained.
The media, which like members of the judiciary have flexed newly independent muscles in recent months, continued to face restrictions. Only state-run TV stations have been allowed to broadcast since Saturday.
In Lahore, up to 2,000 lawyers congregated in the largest protest, shouting “Musharraf go!” Police beat the protesters with batons and punched Pakistani reporters at the Karachi Press Club protecting two opposition leaders inside.
In Islamabad, access to the Supreme Court was sealed off by police, and anyone who tried to reach Constitution Avenue to protest outside the court was arrested.
With many lawyers in jail, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said her party would hold a rally Friday in Rawalpindi. She is trying to gather support from other parties with an eye to forming a joint opposition, said Abida Hussain, a leading member of the Pakistani People’s Party.
“She wants to organize a resistance,” Hussain said.
Information from The Washington Post
is included in this report.