Bhutto supporters said arrested

Source: Reuters

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party said on Thursday that police arrested thousands of its activists overnight, hours after U.S. President George W. Bush urged President Pervez Musharraf to hold elections and quit as army chief.

Police, who have already detained hundreds of lawyers and other opposition figures and supporters since General Musharraf imposed emergency rule and suspended the constitution on Saturday, denied arresting Bhutto supporters.

"They have raided homes of our activists across Punjab throughout the night. The number of people arrested is now in the thousands," said Farzana Raja, a party spokeswoman in the central Punjab province.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party plans to hold a public meeting in Rawalpindi, adjoining the capital Islamabad, on Friday to protest emergency rule and Bhutto has threatened a mass march on November 13 unless Musharraf backs down.

Police have warned the party rallies are banned.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0630141120071108

This is more dicey, though. Pakistan has an underpinning of democratic structures, a nuclear arsenal, and seems more concerned with India than it's neighbor to the north, and a growing extremist movement.

:shrug: