It's not good news for Musharraf, that's for sure, even as he says that the state of emergency will be lifted in three weeks. Whether he'll abide by his word remains to be seen. He's flip-flopped as needed to stay in power and has alternatively cracked down and appeased the Islamists before. This situation appears to be little different.
Meanwhile, he continues to threaten his political rivals, including Benazir Bhutto. Pakistani police may stop a rally for Bhutto later this week. Her supporters clashed with police in violent demonstrations in Islamabad today.
The police clashed violently with supporters of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto Wednesday after she announced that her party would carry out a mass demonstration on Friday and a protest march next week if the president, General Pervez Musharraf, refuses to end emergency rule.
But the authorities have said they will not allow the demonstration, and Bhutto's statements set up an immediate confrontation with Musharraf, who declared emergency rule on Saturday, suspending the Constitution, arresting hundreds of of lawyers, other protesters and political opponents, and shutting down independent television news outlets. Under the decree, public protests are banned.
"We are going ahead with the protest on the ninth," Bhutto announced at a news conference in Islamabad after meeting with other opposition parties. "I understand my liberty might be at stake."
After the news conference, police officers fired tear gas and beat about 100 of her party workers when they tried to push through police barriers blocking access to the Parliament building.
Until now, Pakistani lawyers have led the challenge to emergency rule, carrying out small protests, which the police have broken up by force. But Bhutto's party, the biggest opposition political party, is widely seen as the only group capable of bringing large numbers of protesters onto the streets.
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