Pakistani Officials Keep a Lid on Anti-U.S. Rallies

Anti-American protesters rallied across Pakistan on Friday, burning President Bush in effigy and shouting lustily, “Death to America!” But instead of being perturbed, authorities were relieved that they had kept the numbers low and the rage under control.

The demonstrations, coming after prayers on the traditional day for protests, had been well advertised. Yet the only large gathering took place in Quetta, a city known for its Taliban leanings, where 25,000 people--many carrying portraits of Osama bin Laden--crowded into a sports stadium.

There was sporadic violence elsewhere, including an arson attack at a KFC restaurant in Karachi and the killing of a police officer north of Peshawar. But in most places, demonstrators numbered in the hundreds or low thousands, and police were firmly in charge.

Accounts of the police officer’s death were sketchy. Only seven injuries were recorded, all in Karachi.

It appeared that President Pervez Musharraf and his military government had passed a major test, showing they could stay in control despite the U.S. bombing campaign in neighboring Afghanistan.

The day’s events seemed to reinforce the underlying message of earlier protests: Although a large majority of Pakistanis say they vehemently oppose the U.S and its military actions in Afghanistan, they are unwilling to join the hard-line minority in the streets.

Bin Laden Hailed, Musharraf Decried

However, there were also some worrisome signs. Demonstrators are becoming more reckless in their accusations against Musharraf and his government. In Quetta, protesters hailed Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar as heroes while chanting, “Musharraf, U.S. Dog!”

Quetta had been the scene of uncontrolled rioting Monday, and the government poured in thousands of extra troops and police Friday to ensure order. They included mounted constables, paramilitary Frontier Corps troops and a group of army commandos who pointed automatic rifles to keep one small, noisy procession on its side of the road.

Deputy Inspector General Jogezai Hamayooun said police and soldiers could use any means at their disposal to protect property and lives, including shooting.

“We’re here to look after security and take care of the people,” he said. “People should feel secure.”

In a fiery speech in Quetta, Maulana Abdulghaffor Haideri, secretary-general of the radical Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam party, offered a string of condemnations: of just-named Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan for “ignoring innocent women and children in Afghanistan”; of the Organization of the Islamic Conference for refusing to condemn the U.S. airstrikes; and of Musharraf for allowing the United States access to two Pakistani air bases.

Haideri threatened to send an army of protesters to besiege Jacobabad airport, where a few U.S. troops are reportedly providing logistical support to the Afghan operation.

He also declared a nationwide strike for Monday to “welcome” an expected visit to Pakistan by U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

The crowd was fired up by a 10-year-old boy, his head draped in a black scarf. He recited verses of the Koran and then assailed America in the tone and cadence of the rally’s white-bearded elders, who looked down at him with what seemed like paternal pride.

“We will burn the parliaments of America!” the boy, named Hamdullah, shouted into the microphone as he addressed the thousands of grown men. (Women are not asked to public rallies here.) “We are with Sheik Bin Laden. We are with Mullah Omar. We will never hand over Osama bin Laden.”

“President Bush announced a crusade against Muslims, and we will put an end to that crusade,” Haideri said later to roars of approval. “We will turn Afghanistan into the graveyard of the American troops and their allies.”

Eight political parties participated, and journalists in Quetta said it was the largest political rally in the city in their memory.

In the North-West Frontier provincial capital of Peshawar, the largest deployment of security forces since Musharraf seized power two years ago looked on as a small but virulent crowd of about 3,000 vented its rage.

Under a banner that read “We Will Fight ‘Till The Complete Destruction of America,” protesters spilled out of a mosque in the central part of the city just after noon and marched about half a mile along a narrow street to a large square.

With anti-American cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman under house arrest for security reasons, a series of less prominent speakers pledged to avenge the U.S. airstrikes against Afghanistan.

The Crowd Melts Away After Burning Effigies

Young boys sold Osama bin Laden T-shirts for $1.50 each as heavily armed police and paramilitary units looked on. On a roof overlooking the square, police sharpshooters monitored the crowd from hastily built sandbag positions.

The crowd in Peshawar was far smaller than expected and, in the end, melted away after burning effigies of Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Speakers whipped the crowd’s emotions with calls for revenge against the United States, yet protest organizers--in Peshawar and Quetta--also worked hard to prevent violence.

In Peshawar, they first controlled a group of youths at the front of the march with sticks, then forced them to stop well before reaching the waiting lines of riot police.

In Quetta, protesters were told not to respond to chants not issued from the podium, and the protest organizers asked the participants to respect the safety of foreign journalists.

Many Peshawar residents stood back on the sidewalks rather than join the protest. One of those onlookers, 43-year-old pharmaceutical salesman Mohammed Mushaq, quietly voiced his disapproval.

“This is a farce,” he said. “If they’re so upset about all this, why don’t they go to Afghanistan and help?”

Some Quetta residents also welcomed the heavy police presence to keep the protests orderly.

“If they want to wage jihad, they should go there to fight and leave us here. Don’t disrupt my livelihood,” said Ghulam Hussain, a vendor selling pieces of sugar cane from a cart near Quetta’s main square.

“I don’t support the bombing of Afghanistan, but I also don’t support protesters destroying Pakistani property in Pakistan,” he said.