Protests Against Pakistani Government Turn Violent

[tekisui]

Source: AP

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's opposition leader defied house arrest on Sunday to join anti-government protests that quickly descended into violence and chaos, with running battles between stone-throwing protesters and police.

The power struggle between Pakistan's president and the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif threatens to paralyze the government and, alarmingly for the U.S., distract the nuclear-armed country from its fight against Taliban militants operating along the Afghan border.

Hundreds of police surrounded the Lahore residence of Sharif, a former prime minister, before dawn on Sunday and detained him along with scores of his supporters, a party spokesman said.

Officers in the eastern Pakistani city showed party officials an order placing Sharif and his politician brother Shahbaz under house arrest for three days, spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed said.

Sharif denounced the order as illegal and later left the house in a convoy of vehicles packed with chanting, flag-waving supporters, headed for a downtown rally that had already turned violent.

Mobs accompanying the swelling convoy smashed the windows of buses parked along the route. Others torched tires, sending plumes of black smoke into the blue sky over a usually bustling boulevard littered with stones and empty tear gas shells.

"These are the decisive moments," Sharif told supporters before he climbed into his car. "I tell every Pakistani youth that this is not the time to stay home; Pakistan is calling you to come and save me."

more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD96UF6RO0

[tekisui]

1. Govt ready to take on long march: Malik

ISLAMABAD: The government is ready to deal with the participants of the long march, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Saturday, adding no one would be allowed to stage a sit-in on Constitution Avenue.

The country cannot afford a long march in the prevailing circumstances and intelligence reports have warned of terror attacks during the procession, he told journalists after a function at NADRA headquarters. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership was under threat of a targeted attack, which is why the government had urged them not to participate in the long march. He claimed the country’s enemies were trying to destabilise it, adding he would disclose the names of those conspiring against Pakistan at a proper time.

Don’t participate: Malik said he had assured foreign diplomats that Constitution Avenue would not be barricaded during the long march and sit-in. He said students, civil society, traders’ organisations, and family members of those killed by terrorists had asked the government to ban any procession in Islamabad, APP reported. He said the government had offered alternate sites of assembly to the lawyers with full security but they had refused them. He also advised the masses against participating in the long march and sit-in. He said a long march must be in the national interest. “There should be a long march but only for peace in Swat and FATA, not for political gains,” he added.

more: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\03\15\story_15-3-2009_pg7_1

[tekisui]

2. Twitter Report: Police van kills young man, marchers burn the police van.

[Mojorabbit]

3. I have not been following

the situation there. Sounds like it is on the edge.

[tekisui]

4. There could very well be a revolution in Pakistan.

The leaders of the ruling party are resigning quickly due to President Zardari's crackdown on the marchers. If you are interested, I have a lot of articles in my journal.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/tekisui

This week has been the "Long March", ending in an Islamabad sit-in tomorrow. The government has the military on high alert and have banned to protest. The marchers are not letting that stop them.

[tekisui]

5. Some marcher's deaths reported. GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING

http://longmarch.seenreport.com/story/15-03-2009-long-live-the-long-march-avenge-those-killed-and-injured-by-police-the-government-is-ruth/r/1389/