Anti-Musharraf activists arrested

Riot police arrested dozens of opposition activists on Sept. 24, protesting against Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, as the supreme court dismissed two challenges to his bid for re-election. Opposition parties said hundreds of members have been detained since police began taking their leaders into custody for allegedly planning to foment unrest. Officials imposed a ban on gatherings of more than five people in the capital, Islamabad. Roads leading to the Islamabad court were blocked with barbed wire. Police arrested about 30 protesters who gathered near the court shouting anti-Musharraf slogans. "The US government hired a dog in uniform," protesters shouted, referring to Musharraf's alliance with the Bush administration. At the Supreme Court, the presiding judge, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, dismissed without explanation papers filed by a retired government official that argued the president should step down immediately. He also rejected a complaint that the courts had failed to stop a constitutional amendment in 2003 that allowed Musharraf to serve as both president and head of the military. Justice Bhagwandas ruled that it was too late to address such a grievance. However, the nine-judge panel has still to rule on five other petitions that argue Musharraf's dual role is illegal and that he is ineligible to seek another five-year term. Musharraf has offered to resign his military role if he wins the election on Oct. 6. The court is expected to decide on the other petitions, which include complaints from opposition parties and a lawyers' group, later this week. On entering the court building, Musharraf's lawyer, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, had a black substance sprayed in his face by an angry lawyer. "When such elements sense their defeat, they resort to such provocative acts," Kasuri said. "They are a black spot on the legal profession." The Pakistan legal fraternity today named Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed as the first candidate to challenge Musharraf in the vote by federal and provincial MPs. Ahmed is not seen as a legitimate contender, but his candidacy could be used to mount legal challenges. After the arrests over the weekend, other members of the opposition went into hiding. A warrant served on Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said he would be jailed for 30 days to stop him making inflammatory speeches at protests where "miscreants" could "cause disruption and acts of sabotage and terrorism." Opposition parties said that those arrested in several cities included 150 members of the PML, led by the exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and 70 members of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (United Action Forum). "The government is bent upon picking up every opposition man," said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for the PML. "All fascist tactics are being used and all the state machinery is being exploited for the illegitimate rule of one man." The police sweeps mirrored tactics used to ensure few turned out to welcome Sharif when he tried to return from exile two weeks ago. He was swiftly deported to Saudi Arabia. Musharraf's popularity and power have eroded since his unsuccessful attempt to fire the supreme court's chief justice, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, earlier this year.