Bhutto placed under 'house arrest'

Originally From New America Media

Friday, November 9, 2007 : Pakistan’s lawyers have emerged as the voices of conscience in their country, much like the monks in Burma. That comes as a surprise to NAM writer Mark Schurmann who, like many Americans, is more used to lawyers being regarded as ‘blood-suckers’ and the butt of nasty jokes.

SAN FRANCISO - The Pakistani lawyers who continue to shake their fists at the declaration of martial law and the suspension of Pakistan’s constitution by General Pervez Musharraf are a far cry from how we view lawyers here in America—men and women in ill-fitting suits with bad hairstyles and a God complex.

Just last week, I sat in a courtroom in San Francisco and watched lawyers discuss their weekend plans--wine and cheese in Napa, quick getaways to Cancun, dinner at a posh restaurant in the city--as exhausted-looking defendants in county-issued clothes, my friend among them, sat awaiting their fates.

No wonder popular culture teems with lawyer jokes.

What’s the difference between a dead dog on the road and a dead lawyer on the road? There are skid marks in front of the dog.

And there are thousands more such jokes on the Internet.

The image of ‘blood-sucker’ stands in stunning contrast to the Pakistani lawyers dressed in suits and confronting riot police on the streets of Lahore and Islamabad. It isn’t the dust one usually associates with the dry barren plains of Pakistan they’re marching through, but tear gas.

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Friday, November 9, 2007 : Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, under intense domestic and international pressure, has announced a mid-February date for parliamentary elections. He also pledged to remove his uniform once the reconstituted Supreme Court rules that his re-election last month is legitimate.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is calling on Musharraf to step down as Army chief within a week.

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Friday, November 9, 2007 : The United States called on Pakistan's government Friday to end the house arrest of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after her residence in the capital was cordoned off by police ahead of a major rally planned by her supporters. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe, who was accompanying President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch said the U.S.

remains "concerned about the continued state of emergency and curtailment of basic freedoms." He said Bhutto and other political opponents should be released and "permitted freedom of movement."

"We urge Pakistani authorities to quickly return to constitutional order and democratic norms," he said.

A spokesman for Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf promised the opposition leader would be free by Saturday.

Police Bar Bhutto from Attending Rally

After a brief scuffle with Bhutto's supporters, police strung lengths of razor wire around her Islamabad home and prevented her leaving in a car to attend the rally in neighboring Rawalpindi to protest Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.

Dozens of police, some in riot gear, were deployed at Bhutto's residence along with steel and concrete barriers. Other security personnel patrolled on motorcycles, horseback and in armored vehicles. At least 12 Bhutto supporters were arrested, including a woman who showed up with flowers.

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Friday, November 9, 2007 : Police prevent former prime minister from leaving her Islamabad home.

Police rounded up Bhutto supporters outside her Islamabad villa [AFP]

Pakistani police have blocked Benazir Bhutto from attending a rally against emergency rule. Police had earlier surrounded the Islamabad home of Bhutto, a former prime minister and the leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), placing her under "virtual house arrest" on Friday.

Al Jazeera's James Bays in Islamabad said Bhutto attempted to break through the police barricades in a white vehicle but made no headway. The former prime minister had planned to defy a ban on public gatherings and address a rally in nearby Rawalpindi.

"Do not raise hands on women. You are Muslims. This is un-Islamic," she shouted at police who blocked her.

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