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Lawyers Seek To Oust Musharraf

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The Associated Press

Published: June 10, 2008

KARACHI, Pakistan - Lawyers rallied against President Pervez Musharraf across Pakistan on Monday, burning him in effigy, calling for his ouster and demanding the reinstatement of judges in the kickoff of a campaign that could strain the shaky coalition government.

The "Long March" by lawyers to the capital was heralded by gatherings in major cities and is expected to culminate this week with a rally and sit-in outside parliament in Islamabad. Thousands of political activists and others were expected to join the demonstrations.

Lawyers spearheaded opposition to Musharraf's rule last year, but their new protests to step up pressure on the U.S.-allied leader to resign are also deepening rifts between the two main parties in the administration that won election on anti-Musharraf platforms.

The protests come as the 2-month-old government faces a slew of other tests, including an ailing economy and Islamic militancy - the latter a major concern of the United States and other nations.

The two main groups in the ruling coalition, the Pakistan People's Party of Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Muslim League-N of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have failed to resolve differences over how to reinstate judges fired by the president in November.

Some 4,000 political activists, including Sharif supporters, gathered in Karachi on Monday to castigate the president. They chanted, "Go, Musharraf, go!" and "Musharraf is an American dog!"

In the central city of Multan, lawyers hung a large effigy of Musharraf, kicked it, beat it with sticks, and set it ablaze.

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