Rally to support Pakistan judge

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Lawyers in several Pakistani cities have protested after President Pervez Musharraf suspended the country's top judge for alleged misuse of office.

In Karachi, the biggest city, about 200 lawyers burned an effigy of the president outside the main courts.

A nationwide court boycott is planned on Monday, AFP reported.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry had a reputation for taking a firm line on government misdemeanours and human rights abuses.

Observers say he was a highly controversial figure in his time as chief justice.

He took up investigations into the highly sensitive issue of the disappearance of political activists allegedly detained illegally by the security forces.

The details of Mr Chaudhry's alleged offences are not yet clear.

Chaudhry: Chief justice since 2005President Musharraf had received "numerous complaints and serious allegations for misconduct, misuse of authority and actions prejudicial to the dignity of office of the chief justice of Pakistan," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.

Protesters in Karachi shouted slogans condemning Mr Chaudhry's removal as "the murder of the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan", AFP said.

The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said he had been told by Mr Chaudhry that he would defend himself and would not step down.