WRAP Tear gas and arrests at Karachi demo; lawyers protest in Islamabad
(7 Dec 2007) SHOTLIST Karachi 1. Wide of protestors chanting slogans 2. Mid of protestors chanting slogans 3. Various of police and protesters scuffling 4. Policeman hitting protester with stick and putting him into police vehicle 5. Policeman pulling on protester's clothes 6. Various of policeman firing tear gas shells 7. Cloud of smoke from tear gas 8. Various of police ++NIGHT SHOTS++ Islamabad 9. Wide of protesting lawyers marching towards the house of suspended former Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry 10. Women walking with candles, chanting "Go, Musharraf, go!" 11. Man holding sign reads (English) "Go Busharraf go!" (combining names of US and Pakistani presidents) 12. Protesters walking and chanting 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Gohar Ali Khan, protesting lawyer: "We are here against what Musharraf has done to our country, to our system, to our judicial system, to the judiciary, to the independence of law, the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and the constitution. We condemn it and we will continue our struggle until we go back to pre-November 3rd situation." 14. Various of protesters lighting candles in front of house of suspended Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is currently under house arrest 15. Protestors walking towards former chief justice's house 16. Security guards standing in front of house, coils of barbed wire in foreground STORYLINE: A series of protests took place in Pakistan in Friday, protesting at Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's moves against the judiciary and his imposition of emergency rule over a month ago. In Karachi, police fired tear gas and baton charged hundreds of students at a small rally on Friday, who were protesting against emergency rule. More than 200 activists from Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT), a student wing of the hardline religious Jamat-e-Islami party, thronged the streets of Karachi, holding banners and chanting slogans. An AP Television journalist at the scene said police arrested about six protesters and fired tear gas shells to disperse the demonstration. Meanwhile, in Islamabad, angry lawyers took to the streets, protesting Musharraf's moves against the judiciary, and demanding he step down. Chanting "Go Musharraf, go!" lawyers walked towards the house of suspended former Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. "We are here against what Musharraf has done to our country, to our system, to our judicial system, to the judiciary, to the independence of law, the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and the constitution. We condemn it and we will continue our struggle until we go back to pre-November 3rd situation," said protesting lawyer Gohar Ali Khan. Musharraf sought to justify his imposition of emergency rule on November 3, during which he purged the Supreme Court just as it was about to issue a verdict on the legality of his continued rule. Since then, lawyers have urged Musharraf to restore the constitution and reverse his decision to oust chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other independent-minded judges. Meanwhile, Pakistan's opposition parties remained deadlocked after three days of talks held to draft conditions they want the government to meet for their participation in upcoming elections. Representatives of the parties of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto said they would continue talks on two remaining sticking points, after announcing on Thursday they had reached agreement on 15 issues in a charter of electoral demands. Bhutto has indicated she would prefer to reinstate them after the elections. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
