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 In this section
Bloody crackdown as west urges end to emergency rule

Kamila Shamsie: The wary optimism of Pakistan in 1999 is lost. Today is only gloom

FAQ: Pakistan emergency power

Timeline: Instability in Pakistan

Peter Preston: A proud, but failing, state

What the papers say: 'Our capacity to come out unscathed is in doubt'

Fear and brutality inside the fiefdom of Islamist shock jock

Musharraf warned: hold elections and quit as army chief

Musharraf snubbed Brown and Rice on emergency rule

Benazir Bhutto weighs political options

The tough guy outsider who loves to be in control

'Desperate' Musharraf declares martial law

Final shreds of Pakistan's democracy are ripped up

Pakistan declares state of emergency

Court speeds up Musharraf election challenge


Bloody crackdown as west urges end to emergency rule



· Riot police fire teargas and arrest thousands
· US pledges rethink but Rice hints options limited


Declan Walsh in Islamabad, Simon Tisdall in London, and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday November 6, 2007
The Guardian


A lawyer chants slogans anti-Musharraf during a protest in Islamabad
A lawyer chants anti-Musharraf slogans during a protest in Islamabad. Photograph: B K Bangash/AP
 


Pakistani police launched a sweeping crackdown on opposition to military ruler President Pervez Musharraf yesterday, thrashing protesters and arresting thousands as western powers stepped up pressure for an early end to emergency rule.

The first big street protests since Gen Musharraf assumed wide-ranging powers on Saturday were swiftly crushed. Riot police fired teargas, baton charged crowds and flung bloodied lawyers into prison vans. The interior ministry said at least 1,500 people had been picked up; opposition groups estimated over twice as many arrests.



Britain and the US urged Gen Musharraf to keep his earlier promises to restore the constitution, resign as army chief and hold elections by January.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, suggested that Islamabad was bowing to intense international pressure to pursue an alternative course. "What's striking is that the international community and the domestic political community agreed on the steps to be taken. There was real unanimity," he said.

In Washington, the Bush administration repeated calls for a return to civilian rule and promised a review of American aid that has totalled $11bn (£5.3bn) since 2001. "The government of the United States is deeply disturbed," said the White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino. "We can not support emergency rule."

But the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, hinted that the room for leverage was limited because of Pakistan's strategic importance. "We have a significant counterterrorism effort in Pakistan and so we have to review this whole situation," she told reporters.

In Islamabad there was confusion about the timing of elections. The attorney general, Malik Qayuum, and the president of Gen Musharraf's party, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, said they would take place by mid-January as scheduled. But the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, refused to commit to a date, saying only that polls would take place "as early as possible", leaving open the possibility of a delay of up to a year.

Gen Musharraf wields vast power since usurping the constitution on Saturday in a move analysts likened to martial law. Fundamental rights have been suspended, television stations censored and stringent media regulations introduced.

The UN became the latest organisation to condemn the imposition of martial law and call for the release of those detained.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N party of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said 2,300 supporters had been picked up, while Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan's People party put its toll at 173. But the PPP leadership remained untouched, a possible sign that power-sharing talks between Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf have not been derailed. Ms Bhutto is due in Islamabad by the end of the week.

The biggest protest was in Lahore where 2,000 protesting lawyers tried to defend themselves against attacking police with stones and tree branches. At least 250 people were bundled into waiting vans usually used for transporting prisoners, some bleeding from the head.

"They were treated so brutally ... I've never seen such a thing," said Tariq Javed Warriach, of the local bar council.

In Islamabad, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the judge Gen Musharraf fired as chief justice on Saturday, remained under house arrest. A Musharraf loyalist has been sworn in to replace him.

Downing Street said Britain was reviewing its aid programme while pressing for the restoration of "normal democratic and constitutional processes".




Special reports
Pakistan
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Attack on America
Kashmir

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29.07.2007: The Observer: Pervez Musharraf

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05.11.2007: Countdown to Pakistani elections
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