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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pakistan 'to keep elections date' | Pakistan 'to keep elections date' |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Pakistan's prime minister says national elections will be held as scheduled, despite President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule. | Pakistan's prime minister says national elections will be held as scheduled, despite President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule. |
| Elections are planned for mid-January, but there were fears they might be abandoned because of the crisis. | |
| Police have broken up street protests and hundreds of lawyers and opposition activists have been arrested. | Police have broken up street protests and hundreds of lawyers and opposition activists have been arrested. |
| The US said it was "deeply disturbed" by events and urged Gen Musharraf to return to civilian rule. | The US said it was "deeply disturbed" by events and urged Gen Musharraf to return to civilian rule. |
| The president said he had declared the emergency to stop Pakistan "committing suicide", because the country was in a crisis caused by militant violence and an unruly judiciary. | |
| Critics, however, believe Gen Musharraf was acting to pre-empt a judgment by the Supreme Court on whether his re-election last month was legal. | Critics, however, believe Gen Musharraf was acting to pre-empt a judgment by the Supreme Court on whether his re-election last month was legal. |
| Election timetable | |
| The government had suggested parliamentary polls could be delayed by up to a year. | The government had suggested parliamentary polls could be delayed by up to a year. |
| EMERGENCY RESTRICTIONS Constitutional safeguards on life and liberty curtailedPolice get wide powers of arrestSuspects can be denied access to lawyersFreedom of movement restrictedPrivate TV stations taken off airNew rules curtail media coverage of suicide bombings or militant activityChief justice replaced, others made to swear oath of loyaltySupreme Court banned from rescinding emergency order Eyewitness: Karachi protest In pictures: Protests Media oppose emergency | |
| But Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that: "The next general elections will be held according to the schedule." | But Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that: "The next general elections will be held according to the schedule." |
| Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum was more specific. | Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum was more specific. |
| "It has been decided there will be no delay in the election and by 15 November these assemblies will be dissolved and the election will be held within the next 60 days," he told Reuters news agency. | "It has been decided there will be no delay in the election and by 15 November these assemblies will be dissolved and the election will be held within the next 60 days," he told Reuters news agency. |
| Pakistan had come under heavy international pressure after Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Saturday. | |
| "We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a visit to the Middle East. | |
| She urged Gen Musharraf to fulfil his pledge to step down as head of the army and return the country to civilian rule. | |
| One Pakistani minister said the state of emergency had left that promise "in limbo". | |
| 'Further steps' | |
| The US has suspended defence co-operation talks with Pakistan set for this week and says it will review its multi-billion dollar aid programme. | |
| The UK, another major donor, says it is examining whether the emergency will affect its aid to Pakistan. | |
| Balance of power in Pakistan | |
| British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the announcement that elections would go ahead was welcome, but it must be accompanied by civilian rule and political freedoms. | |
| The Netherlands became the first country to suspend aid, and the EU said its members were considering "possible further steps". | |
| In Lahore on Monday an estimated 2,000 lawyers congregated to stage a rally protesting at the dismissal of top judges and restrictions on the judiciary, but several were reported wounded when police waded in with tear gas and baton charges. | |
| Lawyers chanting anti-Musharraf slogans at a demonstration in Karachi were dragged off into police vans, says the BBC's M Ilyas Khan. | |
| Demonstrations were also broken up in Rawalpindi. | |
| House arrest | |
| Lawyers' associations across the country said they were calling three days of protests and boycotts of courts. | |
| Media reports, citing police and interior ministry sources, said some 1,500 people had been arrested in the past 48 hours, while many top judges were effectively under house arrest. | |
| HAVE YOUR SAY I think Musharraf has about the most difficult job on the planet David Bradshaw, Ashford, United Kingdom Your views on emergency West faces new dilemma Declaration: Full text | |
| The Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami was among the groups targeted. | |
| Its leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, was under arrest, as were hundreds of members, the party said. | |
| Information Minister Tariq Azim called those figures an exaggeration. | |
| He told the BBC that it was up to protesters to remain calm, or deal with the consequences. | |
| "If people take the law into their [own] hands, obviously, they have to be dealt with," he told the World Today. | |
| Pakistani TV news channels, which have huge audiences, are being prevented from broadcasting within the country, and at least one newspaper press was raided by police. | |
| Are you in Pakistan? Did you witness any of the reported police actions? Send us your accounts using the form below. | |
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