Pakistan Continues Crackdown on Anti-Government March
By VOA News
14 March 2009
Supporters of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif party and lawyers take part in anti-government rally in Multan, Pakistan, 14 Mar 2009
Pakistan＇s government continues to crackdown on an four-day anti-government march, even as it calls for a compromise with activists to avert a political showdown.
Police detained protesters in the central city of Multan Saturday, the third straight day the government has tried to break up a nationwide march scheduled to converge in the capital of Islamabad on Monday.
Pakistan＇s government offered to hold reconciliation talks after several meetings with top political and military leaders Friday, as well as consultations with American diplomats.
A coalition of lawyers and opposition party members is vowing to press ahead with the march, even though the government has banned public gatherings in three provinces - North West Frontier, Punjab, and Sindh provinces.
Lawyers are demanding that President Asif Ali Zardari reinstate the former Supreme Court chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was ousted by former President Pervez Musharraf.
Opposition members are protesting a court ruling last month barring party leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, from holding elected office.
Immediately after the decision, President Zardari removed Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab province and installed a new official.
Aides close to Mr. Zardari say the president is considering lifting the legal bar against the Sharif brothers, ending central government rule in Punjab and allowing the provincial assembly to choose the next chief minister.
The United States has expressed its concern about the latest instability and urged both sides to resolve their issues with respect to the rule of law.
Top U.S. officials including U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Ann Patterson and U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke have made calls to President Zardari and Mr. Sharif.
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