Two hundred Pakistani lawyers protest to end state of emergency

(10 Nov 2007) 1. Wide of lawyers protesting against the state of emergency enforced by President General Pervez Musharraf's government 2. Close up of sign reading: (English) "Go Musharraf Go" taped to toy puppy representing Musharraf 3. Various of lawyers chanting 4. Various of lawyers marching 5. Lawyers hitting toy puppy 6. Lawyer holding sign reading: (English) "We want rule of law" 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Raja Halim Abbasi, Former President of Islamabad's Bar Association: "We demand the restoration of the 1973 constitution, the restoration of the judges of the apex (supreme) courts, removal of PCO (Provincial Constitutional Order), lifting the emergency, and election - a fair and transparent election within the scheduled time." 8. Wide of lawyers marching STORYLINE: Two hundred lawyers staged a protest in Islamabad demanding an end to the state of emergency and free and fair elections on Saturday, the same day a senior government official said Pakistan will lift the state of emergency within one month. Pictures filmed by an AP Television crew showed lawyers marching and chanting slogans against President General Pervez Musharraf's government. Raja Halim Abbasi, the former head of Islamabad's Bar Association said the protestors demanded an end to the state of emergency enforced by Musharraf's government and "the restoration of the 1973 constitution." Abbasi also said the government should call for "a fair and transparent election within the scheduled time." Musharraf insists he called the week-old emergency to help fight Islamic extremists who control swathes of territory near the Afghan border. But Pakistan's secular opposition, as well as its increasingly independent courts and media, have been the main target of the subsequent repression. Under growing international pressure, Musharraf has announced that parliamentary elections initially slated for January will be held no more than a month later. On Saturday the government's top lawyer said the state of emergency would be short-lived, but provided no further details and would not say when a formal announcement might come. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, left her home for the first time after a day under house arrest, travelling to a meeting with party colleagues. Aides said she would later meet with foreign diplomats. Security forces threw a cordon around Bhutto's villa on Friday, and rounded up thousands of her supporters to prevent a planned demonstration against the the government crackdown. On Saturday morning, police pulled aside the metal barriers blocking the street leading to her villa to let her four-vehicle convoy pass. In Washington some lawmakers called for aid to Pakistan to be curtailed unless Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, quickly relaxes his crackdown and presses ahead with long-promised democratic reform. As Musharraf's chief international backer, the Bush administration is deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 160 (m) million people on the front lines of the US-led campaign against al-Qaida and its allies. 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...