Pakistani police disperse Islamist strikers

[NNN0LHI]

LAHORE, Pakistan, April 2 (Reuters) - Pakistani police fired tear gas and used batons in on Saturday to disperse small groups of Islamists whose call for a nationwide general strike fizzled in most parts of the country.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance of six Islamic opposition parties called the strike to demand that President Pervez Musharraf give up power.

Police in the eastern city of Lahore said they fired tear gas to disperse a group of activists who hurled stones at shops to try to force them to shut and observe the strike.

Several protesters received minor injuries in clashes with police in Leiah, a town in the central province of Punjab.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL202934.htm

[Rose Siding]

1. Anti-Musharraf Strike Jolts Key Pakistani Cities

Islamic coalition had called for action to force president to step down. Hundreds are arrested.

LAHORE, Pakistan — A general strike Saturday shut down parts of Pakistan after a coalition of Islamic groups called for a protest to demand that the country's military president step down.

Shops were closed in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, in parts of the nation's biggest city, Karachi, and in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, where Islamic parties are in power. Business activity also slowed in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, where police said men from the Islamic coalition damaged some shops and vehicles.

However, Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, speaking at a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, termed the strike a "complete failure," saying the people had rejected extremist elements by keeping their shops open.
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On Friday, police arrested hundreds of MMA activists, including five lawmakers, in southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan3apr03,1,1658297.story?coll=la-headlines-world