Thousands of activists under siege in Pakistan

POLICE fired tear gas and clubbed thousands of lawyers protesting President General Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the country.

Opposition groups put the number of arrests at 3,500, although the government reported half that.

Gen 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 recent re-election as president was legal.

He ousted independent- minded judges, put a stranglehold on independent media and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.

The attorney general called yesterday for elections to be held on time, but Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left open the possibility for a delay.

Under intense pressure from the US and other Western allies to hold elections as scheduled in January, Gen Musharraf said yesterday he would relinquish control of the military and return the country to “the same track as we were moving” but did not give a date for elections.

“I am determined to remove my uniform once we correct these pillars — the judiciary, the executive, and the parliament,” Gen Musharraf was quoted by state-run Pakistan Television as telling foreign ambassadors yesterday.

“I can assure you there will be harmony... confidence will come back into the government, into law enforcement agencies and Pakistan will start moving again on the same track as we were moving.”

Public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people.

However, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers — angered by his attacks on the judiciary. Protests have been stamped out.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions of dollars in aid on foot of support for the US-led war on terror.

At a news conference in the West Bank yesterday, Ms Rice urged the army chief to follow through on past promises to “take off his uniform”.

“I want to be very clear,” she said, as a team of US defence officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks today 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.”

Defence Secretary Robert Gates suggested military aid may not be affected because the Bush administration does not want to disrupt its partnership with Pakistan in fighting al-Qaida. The country has been hit by a string of suicide bombings in recent weeks.

Britain said it had no current plans to change the £237 million (340.8m) it has budgeted in aid to Pakistan over three years. However, “the whole world will be watching to see how the transition to democracy that is so important for our own security... and the security and stability of Pakistan itself is re-established”, said Foreign Secretary David Milliband.

The Dutch government suspended development assistance, the first to do so.

Mr Aziz left open the possibility of a delay in the vote, telling journalists “the next general elections will be held according to the schedule or a programme that will be finalised after consultation”.

Critics view emergency rule as a sign that Gen Musharraf 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.

Since late on Saturday, between 1,500 and 1,800 people have been detained nationwide, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Opposition party sources said authorities had rounded up about 2,300 of their supporters. Other activists, human rights groups, and lawyers added another 1,200 detentions to that toll.

Lawyers attempted to stage rallies in major cities yesterday, but were beaten and arrested.

The independent-minded chief justice, Iftikhar

Mohammed Chaudhry, was removed from his post on Saturday, just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on the validity of Gen Musharraf’s October 6 re-election.

About 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road, hundreds of police stormed inside, swinging batons and firing tear gas. Lawyers, shouting “Go Musharraf Go!”, responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches.

Gen Musharraf is also controlling the media. Independent news networks remain blocked, and transmissions of the BBC and CNN are off the air.

Rana Bhagwandas, a Supreme Court judge who refused to take oath under Gen Musharraf’s proclamation of emergency orders, said that he has been locked inside his official residence in Islamabad and that other judges were being pressured to support the government.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Sunday a new panel of Supreme Court judges would rule “as early as possible” on Musharraf’s eligibility for a new five-year presidential term.