Sharif Under House Arrest as Crisis Builds in Pakistan
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was placed under house arrest in Lahore on Sunday as opposition groups prepared to march on Islamabad to call for the reinstatement of judges deposed by former President Pervez Musharraf. Pakistan’s current president, Asif Ali Zardari, had said shortly after taking power last fall that he would reverse his predecessor’s ruling but has yet to make good on his pledge.
Update from BBC: “Pakistan opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has defied an apparent bid to put him under house arrest in Lahore ahead of a “march” on the capital Islamabad. Thousands of supporters joined him after he broke through a police barricade of his home to reach a rally.”
Update 2 from BBC: “Pakistan’s government has said a sacked Supreme Court chief justice will be reinstated, prompting the opposition to call off a major rally in the capital.”
Wait, before you go…AFP via Google News:
Sharif, a former prime minister who was last month barred from running for office, had said Saturday he would lead an anti-government protest from the eastern city of Lahore to Islamabad on Sunday.
“Sharif has been ordered not to leave his house in Lahore for three days,” police officer Ijaz Ahmed told AFP.
Similar restrictions were imposed on several other opposition leaders including former cricketer turned politician Imran Khan and the main Islamist party Jamat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, he added.
Police have been deployed outside the homes of Khan and Ahmed in Lahore but party officials said both leaders managed to secretly slip out and were on their way to Islamabad.
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