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Violence feared in Pakistan
12/05/2007 08:18 - (SA)
Karachi - Gunmen shot dead two opposition party workers in Pakistan early on Saturday, stoking fears that rival rallies by the suspended chief justice and President Pervez Musharraf could descend into violence.
The men were gunned down in Karachi as they put up banners in support of top judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is due to address lawyers and supporters in the southern city later in the day, police said.
Meanwhile supporters of military ruler Musharraf are set to flex their muscles after two months of silence with a counter-demonstration in Karachi and a huge rally by the ruling government party in the capital.
Musharraf dismissed Chaudhry on March 9 on charges that he abused his power, unleashing a wave of nationwide protests and turning the judge into a symbol of defiance.
More than 15 000 police and paramilitary troops have been deployed in Karachi for Saturday's rallies. The city practically shut down overnight and several main roads were blocked by lorries with deflated tyres.
Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said investigations were underway to find the killers of the two activists from the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in 1999. Another worker was injured.
"There is a very tense situation in the city now," he told AFP.
The opposition blamed the killings on the pro-Musharraf Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an ethnic party for people who migrated from India after partition in 1947, which is leading Saturday's pro-government rally in Karachi.
There was no immediate comment from the MQM.
"We hope the two opposing factions will be kept apart and we hope that the rallies will be peaceful," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem told reporters on Friday evening.
The standoff between Musharraf and the ousted chief justice, who had a reputation for taking on the government on various human rights and other cases, has gripped this Islamic republic of 160 million people.
Opponents say army chief Musharraf acted unconstitutionally in a bid to neuter the judiciary and make it easier to be reelected as president in uniform by the current parliament before his five-year term runs out in November.
Musharraf says he will abide by the judgment of a convoluted legal process that is dealing with the charges against Chaudhry, among which are that he obtained promotions for his son and amassed a fleet of cars.
The judge, who told thousands of supporters in the eastern political heartland of Lahore on Sunday that the "era of dictatorship is over," was to make a speech at the Sindh province High Court in Karachi.
- SAPA
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