Pakistani authorities banned protests and rounded up hundreds of activists today, a day before a rally by lawyers and opposition parties that could destabilise a fragile, year-old government.
The protest is one more problem for the civilian government led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) that is struggling with economic and security crises.
Pakistan is seen as vital to U.S. efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda. The United States wants to see it focus on fighting militancy rather than getting diverted by political turmoil.
"Provincial governments are fully empowered to take action to keep law and order ... There are security threats," interior ministry chief Rehman Malik told reporters.
Earlier, authorities in Punjab and Sindh provinces announced bans on protests. A senior Punjab provincial official said 300 political activists had been rounded up to stop them "disturbing the peace".
Despite the ban and detentions, anti-government lawyers and opposition parties vowed to press ahead peacefully with their plans for a protest motor convoy, called a long march.
"It's a defining moment for Pakistan," former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif told a rally in NWFP.
"This is an opportunity to save Pakistan ... promise me that you'll fight this battle for the survival of Pakistan."
The activists are pushing for the reappointment of a former Supreme Court chief justice who then army chief and president Pervez Musharraf dismissed in 2007.
Sharif is also infuriated by a Supreme Court ruling last month that barred him and his brother, Shahbaz, from contesting elections. The Sharifs say Zardari was behind the ruling.
In Washington, the US State Department reiterated its general support for freedom of speech and of assembly in Pakistan but stopped short of calling for Islamabad to release those arrested or to permit protests to go ahead.
Reuters