EC World News: Nov, 2007
MSNBC News Services, Nov. 5, 2007, p.1

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denied rumors sweeping Pakistan on Monday that he had been placed under house arrest by subordinates unhappy with his decision to impose emergency rule.

"It is a joke of the highest order," Musharraf told Reuters from the Presidency building in Islamabad where he had just met more than 80 foreign diplomats to explain his decision.

No further information on his situation was immediately available.

Meanwhile, security forces clashed with lawyers protesting the state of emergency, swinging batons and detaining demonstrators in at least two cities to quell the biggest show of defiance yet against its military strongman.

MSNBC News Services, Nov. 5, 2007, p.2 On Sunday, Musharraf's government said that parliamentary elections could be delayed up to a year as it tries to stamp out a growing Islamic militant threat — effectively linking two of the greatest concerns of Pakistan's biggest international donors: the United States and Britain. Increasingly concerned about the unfolding crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing billions of dollars in aid to its close terrorism-fighting ally. Britain is also examining its assistance. "Some of the aid that goes to Pakistan is directly related to the counterterrorism mission," Rice told reporters traveling with her. "We just have to review the situation." But, she said, she did not expect the U.S. "to ignore or set aside our concerns about terrorism."
MSNBC News Services, Nov. 5, 2007, p.3
Hundreds of lawyers arrested

In the southern city of Karachi, police used batons on Monday to drive more than 100 lawyers out of the compound of the provincial high court and then arrested them, said Rashid Rizvi, a senior lawyer and former judge.

He claimed that several wounded colleagues were being denied medical care in police custody.

"Musharraf is going to break up this country by imposing an emergency," Rizvi said.

Lawyers were the driving force behind protests earlier this year against the U.S.-allied military leader when he tried to fire Pakistan's independent-minded chief justice. The move tarnished Musharraf's standing and spawned a pro-democracy movement that threatened to end his eight-year rule.
(illustration: Pakistan news)
Musharraf finally removed the judge, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, when he assumed emergency powers on Saturday, just as the court was preparing to rule whether the military chief's recent re-election as president was legal.
As well as calling for protests, lawyers groups have vowed to boycott all court proceedings held in front of new judges sworn in by Musharraf.
and   more...
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