PAKISTAN: Anti-government protesters and police clash during a nationwide strike called by Islamic leaders for a pro-Taliban show of force

Record ID: 341906

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Anti-government protesters and police clash during a nationwide strike called by Islamic leaders for a pro-Taliban show of force
  • Date: 9th November 2001
  • Summary: (W5) RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 9, 2001) (REUTERS) LV/LAS/SV POLICE ON ROAD; PROTESTER THROWING ROCKS AT POLICE; PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF BURNING RUBBISH; MAN BEING SLAPPED AROUND BY POLICE; MAN BEING TAKEN AWAY BY POLICE; MAN IN VAN (5 SHOTS) SV SHOPKEEPER BEING HIT WITH A STICK BY A PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN (4 SHOTS) SLV POLICE CARS SCREAMING THROUGH STREETS SLV/MCU TEARGAS ON ROADSIDE; POLICE WIPING EYES BECAUSE OF TEARGAS (3 SHOTS) SLV AMBULANCE THROUGH STREETS SV/SLV/LV PROTESTERS WITH TEDDY BEAR AND BURNING TYRES; PEOPLE LOOKING AT FIRE; MORE OF POLICE ROUNDING UP PROTESTERS (5 SHOTS) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 9, 2001) (REUTERS) LV NEWS CONFERENCE MCU (Urdu) ABDUL GHAFOOR HAIDERI, REPRESENTATIVE OF JAMIAT ULAMA ISLAM, SAYING "Today's demonstrations have been one hundred percent successful, all roads in the country have been deserted." SV OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAWALPINDI AND ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8FBD4BPQQ1J8275T070HQPUMK
  • Story Text: Clashes between anti-government protesters and police have continued in Rawalpindi just outside capital Islamabad during a nationwide strike called by Islamic leaders for a pro-Taliban show of force.
    Dozens were arrested by baton-wielding police in Rawalpindi, just outside Islamabad on Friday (November 9).
    Police rounded up protesters, many of whom were hit with batons and slapped around by plainclothes policemen..
    Many of the protesters, who gathered after the traditional Friday afternoon Muslim prayers, threw stones at the police who tried to disperse the gathering.
    The police responded by firing tear gas at the protesters, who were chanting anti-American slogans and calling for a jihad or holy war.
    Earlier in the day, several small groups of stone-throwing youths played hide-and-seek with riot police in Rawalpindi, burning tyres where they could before being chased away.
    At a news conference on Friday, a representative of the Jamiat Ulama Islam, one of the organisers of the nationwide strike, claimed that the nationwide strike was a success.
    "Today's demonstrations have been 100 percent successful all roads in the country have been deserted," said Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
    Pakistan's Islamic parties have vowed to bring the country to a halt in a pro-Taliban show of force on Friday, despite a government crackdown against their leaders, two of whom were detained this week.
    The shutdown of bazaars and transport called by the 35-party Afghanistan Defence Council is in protest against the Pakistani government's support of the U.S. raids targeting the Taliban and their guest Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
    Shops were shut for the day and police were on high alert.
    Roads were almost deserted and shops shuttered, but because the government also declared Friday a national holiday to mark the birthday of Pakistan's national poet, Allama Iqbal, it was difficult to gauge the extent of the strike.
    Police said they remained on alert for more trouble after traditional Friday afternoon Muslim prayers when thousands of worshippers come out from the mosques.
    Elsewhere in Pakistan, a pivotal ally of the United States in its attacks on Afghanistan, police fired teargas and warning shots to scatter anti-government protesters.
    Pakistani air space is the main route for U.S. bombing raids, but most Pakistanis oppose the bombing, and President Pervez Musharraf, who is on his way to meet with U.S.
    President George Bush in Washington, has urged a pause in the attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts next week.
    Musharraf is walking a political tightrope by supporting Washington against the Taliban. Islamic groups accuse the United States of using bin Laden as an excuse to attack Muslims.
    Musharraf said in Paris on Thursday he would try to persuade Bush in their meeting on Saturday (November 10) to suspend the bombing of Afghanistan during Ramadan.
    The United States has said it will continue its raids.
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