Tension over Musharraf rages

LOS ANGELES TIMES

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In a stone-throwing melee in the heart of Pakistan’s capital, riot police Saturday fired tear gas and beat lawyers and human rights activists protesting President Pervez Musharraf’s plans to have himself re-elected while serving as chief of the military.

Dozens of people were reported hurt in the daylong clashes, which marked an escalation in political tensions that have unsettled Pakistan for months amid a nationwide grass-roots movement to oust Musharraf. Until now, even very large anti-government protests have been mainly peaceful.

The violence came as the country’s Election Commission gave its final seal of approval Saturday to the Pakistani leader’s plans to seek a new five-year term in a vote to be held by lawmakers in a week — a vote he is almost certain to win.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court had cleared the way for Musharraf’s re- election by dismissing legal challenges to his standing for office in his dual roles as the country’s civilian and military leader.

The Supreme Court had left the door open to Musharraf’s disqualification by the Election Commission, but that body, which was hand- picked by the Pakistani leader, formally accepted his candidacy.

Musharraf seized power in a coup eight years ago and went on to become a key U.S. ally against al-Qaida and the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But his prestige and popularity have been diminished greatly in recent months.

During Saturday’s clashes between police and hundreds of protesters, clouds of tear gas drifted up and down the capital’s broad, tree-lined Constitution Avenue. At one point, tear-gas canisters landed inside the manicured grounds of the Supreme Court complex.

Outside the Election Commission building, across the street from the Supreme Court, some of the protesting lawyers wielded wooden staves to battle police, their black coats flapping and black neckties flying. Lawyers have played the leading role in the anti-Musharraf movement since March, when the general tried to fire Pakistan’s respected chief justice.

More than 1,000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed in and around the court complex and the Election Commission building.

“This is the face of martial law,” declared lawyer Hamid Khan, who represented cricket-star-turned-opposition-politician Imran Khan in court challenges to Musharraf’s eligibility to seek re-election. “We don’t accept this election process at all. How can it be fair when one candidate has a uniform and a gun?”

The injured included protesters and Pakistani journalists, who claimed police beat everyone in the area.