Ousted Pakistan judge draws thousands opposing Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's suspended top judge led a procession Saturday that drew thousands of opposition supporters, witnesses said, as political pressure on military ruler President Pervez Musharraf grows.

The weight of the roadside crowds, chanting 'Go Musharraf Go!' periodically halted the motorcade led by the ousted head of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, they said. 

The procession, comprising hundreds of cars, was the latest in a series of events to draw public support for the judge since Musharraf suspended him on March 9 over alleged misconduct.

The president's move against the independent-minded Chaudhry, who has challenged the suspension, has sparked the biggest crisis of the general's eight-year rule.

Critics say Musharraf acted to ensure a pliant judiciary if, as expected, he tries to remain as army chief past the end of 2007, when the constitution says he must quit.

Pakistan's fractious opposition movement has united around Chaudhry's cause in a campaign calling for a return to full democracy and an end to military rule.

Witnesses said some 5,000 opposition workers and lawyers greeted Chaudhry at the ancient town of Taxila on his route to Abbotabad, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

Another 15,000 welcomed the judge at the town of Haripur, they said, adding the boisterous crowds waved flags and chanted slogans condemning Musharraf and the military's involvement in politics.

"We are fighting for the independence of the judiciary and we have the support of the people of Pakistan," Chaudhry's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, told the crowd in Haripur.

The procession came a day after Pakistan's top army commanders reaffirmed their full support for Musharraf in the face of what they called attempts by a minority to 'derail the nation from the path of progress.'

Chaudhry's previous rallies were televised live by private domestic television channels, but none broadcast the motorcade. One private television station, the Karachi-based Aaj TV, said it had been told not to cover the procession.

"We have received a notice from the Pakistan Electronic and Media Regulatory Authority that we cannot show live coverage from any place other than what is specified in our license," said Talat Hussain, the station's news director.

But Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani denied the government had barred live coverage. "I am not aware of any restrictions on media," Durrani told AFP.

The government was incensed when lawyers attending a pro-Chaudhry rally at the Supreme Court in Islamabad a week ago shouted slogans condemning Musharraf and the army's role in politics.

Durrani said Thursday that the government would not tolerate disparaging remarks about the army and threatened to restrict live coverage of opposition protests.

Chaudhry's chief lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, said the judge would speak about the protection of citizen's rights during his address before the Abbotabad Bar Association. 

On May 12, Chaudhry had been due to speak to lawyers in the southern city of Karachi but had to abandon his plans when government supporters blocked roads and clashed with opposition activists, leaving 40 people dead. 

Pakistan's military top brass said in a statement late Friday that they had full confidence in Musharraf, who seized power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999 and is an ally of the US in its "War on Terror." 

The military commanders said after a meeting about the situation in the country that there was a 'malicious campaign against the institutions of state.'   

Musharraf assured them that nobody would be allowed to create instability in Pakistan, which is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by late this year or early 2008.