Pakistan politicians arrested ahead of protest rally

Pakistan has arrested hundreds of opposition political activists in an overnight sweep before a planned protest rally, as a looming political showdown presents the most serious challenge yet to the year-old government.

Most of those arrested belong to the popular Pakistan Muslim League (N) led by Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister, and Tehrik-e-Insaf, the party led by Imran Khan, the former cricket captain.

A senior politician in the Pakistan Muslim League (N), Raja Zafarul Haq, was placed under house arrest and this morning police were hunting for Imran Khan. Scores of other MPs and lawyers have gone into hiding to avoid detention.

A ban has been placed on public gatherings across the country and heavy contingents of police and paramilitary troops sealed off the capital Islamabad where opposition parties and lawyers plan to stage a sit-in outside the parliament building on Friday.

Police clashed with demonstrators in many cities in eastern Punjab province, who defied the Government’s ban. They fired tear gas on protesters in Multan city and arrested several protesters. In Lahore, the capital of Punjab province and Mr Sharif's political heartland, police confirmed further arrests.

The protests were called by lawyers against the decision of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Government not to restore Iftikhar Chaudhry, the chief justice sacked by President Pervez Musharraf under a brief emergency rule in November 2007.

Lawyers backed by opposition parties were due to launch a cross-country protest convoy, known as the long march, to Islamabad tomorrow.

"[The arrests have] been done to maintain law and order, so from now there's a ban on all sorts of processions, protests and congregations for one month," Farhan Aziz Khawaja, a senior Punjab provincial interior department official, told The Times. The ban will remain in force for three months, he said.

Pakistan was plunged into a fresh political crisis after President Zardari last month dismissed the provincial government of Punjab and imposed federal rule there after a court ruling that removed Shabaz Sharif, the chief minister. The court also barred his brother Nawaz Sharif from holding public office because of a past conviction.

Mr Sharif, who controls Punjab, Pakistan’s biggest and most powerful province, accused President Zardari of influencing the court decision and vowed to oust him from power. The ban would prevent Mr. Sharif, who is the country’s most popular political leader, from challenging Mr Zardari in the next presidential elections. The Government had denied the allegation that it manipulated the ruling and threatened to charge Mr Sharif with sedition.

The stand-off came as Pakistan faced economic meltdown and its forces are battling Taleban insurgents in northern areas bordering Afghanistan. There is growing concern in Washington and London that political instability could be exploited by Islamic militants who have expanded their influence in large parts of northern Pakistan.

Observers fear that the deepening political crisis could lead to intervention by the military. Pakistan returned to democratic civilian rule after nine years of military rule.