Protest against Musharraf’s bid for new term turns violent

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 reelected while serving as chief of the military.

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

The violence came as Pakistan’s Election Commission gave its seal of approval Saturday to Musharraf’s bid to secure a new five-year term in a vote by outgoing national and provincial lawmakers next Saturday, an election he is almost certain to win.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Musharraf’s reelection by dismissing legal challenges to his running for office without giving up his military post. The general has pledged to give up his uniform after he is reelected but before he is inaugurated.

The high court had left the door open to Musharraf’s disqualification by the Election Commission, but that body, which was handpicked by the Pakistani leader, formally accepted his candidacy.

Musharraf seized power in a coup eight years ago, and after the Sept. 11 attacks became a key U.S. ally against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

But his prestige and popularity have been greatly diminished in recent months.

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

Across the street, outside the Election Commission building, some of the protesting lawyers wielded wooden staves to battle police, their black coats and neckties flapping. Lawyers have taken the lead in the anti-Musharraf movement since March, when the general tried to dismiss 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-politician Imran Khan in court challenges to Musharraf’s eligibility to seek reelection.

“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 journalists, who said police beat everyone in the area.

A senior government official, Tariq Azim, the state minister for information, was roughed up by the crowd outside the Election Commission building. Authorities said at least a dozen police officers were hurt.

Some of the protesters threw stones at police; some police officers picked up the rocks and hurled them back.

Asma Jahangir, a veteran lawyer and human rights activist, was hit by a stone she said was thrown by a policeman.

“The government had planned beforehand to teach the lawyers a lesson,” said Jahangir, whose long white stole was stained with blood. “I saw them specifically pointing to particular lawyers and then beating them up.”

Some analysts predicted more unrest, not only surrounding the vote for president by the national and provincial assemblies, but also in advance of general elections for those bodies that are to take place by mid-January.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said she will return from self-imposed exile to lead her party in that contest, but her camp is still engaged in power-sharing talks with Musharraf.

Another potentially important player in the general elections, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was deported this month by Musharraf’s government when he tried to return after seven years of exile.

laura.king@latimes.com