ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has begun releasing more than 5,000 lawyers, opposition and rights activists detained under emergency powers invoked by President Pervez Musharraf two weeks ago, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
Army chief General Musharraf has been under pressure from the opposition, the United States and Western governments to roll back the emergency he announced on November 3 and ensure elections in January are held under free and fair conditions.
Around 3,400 detainees were released on Tuesday and some 2,000 more would be released soon, Javed Iqbal Cheema, the Interior Ministry spokesman, told a news conference.
How far this relaxation goes will be clear if the authorities start rearresting people for holding election campaign rallies that could turn into anti-Musharraf protests, analysts said.
"While peaceful protests are a part of democratic process, the federal and provincial governments shall not brook any attempt to create disturbances in the run-up to elections," Cheema said.
Increasingly isolated at home, Musharraf flew to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday
leaving a trail of speculation that he would reach out to arch foe Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister he deposed in a 1999 coup, who is now living in exile in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
"It looks like General Musharraf is trying hard to open channels with Sharif," Shafqat Mahmood, a former minister turned analyst, remarked on the sudden two-day visit.
"He's been never more weak than now. He's been condemned internationally, locally, civil society, everybody is after him," Mahmood said.
Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:32 pm
