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.