Pakistan protests met with violent crackdown

More than 1,500 detained
Even lawyers who were not involved in protests appeared to be targeted.

Imran Qadi Khan said police pulled him off a bus near Musharraf’s army office in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital, as he was heading to work.

“We have been sitting here since morning,” he said from prison, sitting alongside other lawyers who stood out because of their traditional attorney dress, black jackets and black ties. “The police are not telling us anything about what they plan to do with us.”

Since late Saturday, between 1,500 and 1,800 people have been detained nationwide, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

But Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s opposition party, said authorities had rounded up around 2,300 of their supporters. Other political activists, human rights groups, and lawyers added another 1,200 detentions to that toll.

They included at least 173 workers and supporters of Bhutto, who has held talks in recent months with Musharraf over a possible alliance to fight extremism, said Pakistan People’s Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

International criticism
Musharraf’s emergency measures have been met with international condemnation.

The Netherlands became the first country to punish Pakistan, announcing a freeze on almost all of its millions of dollars in development aid.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions of dollars in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that military aid may not be affected because the Bush administration does not want to disrupt its partnership with Pakistan in fighting al-Qaida and other militants.

The country has been hit by a string of suicide bombings in recent weeks blamed on extremists, including one last month that killed 145.

Britain said it had no current plans to change the $493 million it has budgeted in aid to Pakistan over three years.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed “strong dismay” at the detention of hundreds of human rights and opposition activists including the U.N. expert on religious freedom, Asma Jahangir, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.

President 'determined' to return to democracy
Musharraf told ambassadors at his official residence that he was committed to completing Pakistan’s transition to democracy.

“I am determined to remove my uniform once we correct these pillars — the judiciary, the executive and the parliament,” he was quoted by state-run Pakistan Television as saying.

“I can assure you there will be harmony ... confidence will come back into the government, into law enforcement agencies and Pakistan will start moving again on the same track as we were moving.”

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left open the possibility of a delay in parliamentary elections that had been expected in January.

“The next general elections will be held according to the schedule or a program that will be finalized after consultation with all the stakeholders,” he said. On Sunday, Aziz said the polls could be delayed by up to a year.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum gave contradicting statements on whether the elections would be held on schedule.

“Yes the elections will go ahead on time,” he told the Associated Press. But then he conceded there was a small chance of a delay because some in the government wanted to put the vote off by a year.

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