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- (AFP) - Pakistani police yesterday arrested dozens of
lawyers protesting against General Pervez Musharraf's move to retain power
for five more years through a referendum.
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- The Pakistan Bar Council, which believes the move to
be illegal and unconstitutional, halted the operations of courts across
the country.
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- Police baton-charged hundreds of lawyers who joined the
demonstration in Karachi and arrested at least 50 of them. The protesters
were carrying banners calling on the President to step down. "Go,
Musharraf, go," they chanted. "We will not accept military rule."
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- The Government has banned all anti-government rallies
before the referendum next Tuesday.
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- General Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup
in October 1999, is seeking to extend his term in office to achieve political
stability in Pakistan and to complete his reform programme.
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- Most of the country's main political parties have rejected
the referendum and called for its boycott. The Bar Council has accused
General Musharraf of violating the Constitution. "It is clearly written
in the Constitution that neither can a serving government official contest
elections nor can he be chosen as President," a council resolution
said.
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- General Musharraf continues to hold the office of army
Chief of Staff. The Bar Council and some political parties have challenged
the referendum's validity in the Supreme Court, which is expected to give
its verdict by the end of this week.
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- General Musharraf has promised to abide by the court's
decision. He has also promised to step down if the voters reject him in
the referendum, but he cannot lose as he has no challenger.
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- The military Government plans shortly to introduce a
law that would ban more than 150 politicians, including two former Prime
Ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, from participating in the parliamentary
election scheduled to be held in October.
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- The Government has hinted that the election may be called
in August if General Musharraf's presidency were endorsed in the referendum.
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- General Musharraf has also been criticised for spending
huge sums of public money on his campaign. Opposition parties claim that
he is spending about £18 million. Much of the money is to finance
security for his public rallies and his personal publicity. Newspapers
are paid large sums to publish advertisements supporting General Musharraf.
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- The lawyers' strike caused the suspension of the trial
of a British-born Islamic militant and three others charged with the kidnapping
and murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl.
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- *Islamabad: At least ten people were killed and 30 were
injured when a bomb exploded at a large gathering of Shia Muslims in the
Bhakkar district of central Punjab province. The bomb went off in an area
reserved for women and children. (AFP)
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