Pakistani police used tear gas and batons to crush protests by lawyers against President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, despite spiralling worldwide outrage at the imposition of a state of emergency.
The White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by the crisis, urging Musharraf, a key ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, to call elections in January and to quit his military post, writes Singapore-based ChannelNewsAsia.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the vote would be on schedule, boosting hopes for a smooth transition to democratic civilian rule, but officials earlier said Musharraf’s plans to hang up his uniform were “in limbo”.
In a sign of the uncertainty gripping the nuclear-armed Islamic republic, the government was forced to deny swirling rumours that Musharraf had been placed under house arrest by his own armed forces.
Dozens of lawyers were wounded and hundreds more arrested as protests erupted outside courtrooms in a number of cities on Monday, the first major show of public dissent since a clampdown across Pakistan on Saturday.
