Lawyers clash with cops in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Thousands of Pakistani lawyers protesting President Pervez Musharraf's declared emergency rule were subject to tear gas and baton charge attacks from police.

Several lawyers in the eastern city of Lahore were injured in battles with police, while hundreds of others were arrested at the city's High Court complex, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The lawyers said they plan to continue the demonstrations.

"We are determined that until there is freedom for the judges and the overturn of emergency rule, this will war will continue," said Anwar Shaheen, a lawyer in Lahore. "They can't quiet us."

Lawyers and police also clashed in the western city of Peshawar and the southern city of Karachi. In Islamabad, lawyers protested at the district's courts, but they were barred by police from taking their demonstration to the streets.

"He has held the whole nation of 160 million people hostage, just with the backing of the gun and the Western powers," said one protesting lawyer, M.S. Moghul.

Musharraf declared emergency rule Saturday, in a move that was widely condemned.

"We cannot support emergency rule or the extreme measures taken during the emergency," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "Such actions are not in Pakistan's best interest and damage the progress Pakistan has made on its path to democracy."