General cracks down, hundreds held

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said up to 500 people had detained nationwide in the last 24 hours.

Among them were Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency and a staunch critic of General Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf replaced the chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who had emerged as the main check on the his power. Aitzaz Ahsan, a lawyer who represented the judge, was also arrested.

Around 200 police with assault rifles and sticks stormed the rights commission8217;s office in Lahore, breaking up a meeting and arresting about 50 members, said Mehbood Ahmed Khan, legal officer for the activists.

8220;They dragged us out, including the women,8221; he said from the police station. 8220;It8217;s inhuman, undemocratic and a violation of human rights to enter a room and arrest people gathering peacefully there.8221;

Musharraf, a 1999 coup leader who had promised to hand over his army fatigues and become a civilian president this year, said he had to impose emergency rule to prevent the country from slipping into anarchy.

But critics say it was a last-ditch attempt to cling to power. His leadership is threatened by an Islamic militant movement that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of political rival and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and an increasingly defiant Supreme Court, which was expected to rule soon on the validity of his recent presidential election win. Hearings scheduled for next week were postponed with no new date set.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum denied claims by Bhutto and others that Musharraf had imposed martial law under the guise of a state of emergency. He noted the prime minister was still in place and that the legislature would complete its term next week.

Crucial parliamentary elections had been scheduled for January, but Prime Minister Aziz said at a press conference that the polls could be delayed by up to a year. Asked how long the extraordinary measures would be in place, he said, 8220;as long as it is necessary.8221;

In Islamabad, phone service that was cut last evening appeared to have been restored this morning. But television news networks other than state-controlled Pakistan TV remained off the air.

Scores of paramilitary troops blocked access to the Supreme Court and parliament. Otherwise streets in the capital appeared largely calm, with only a handful of demonstrations. But one, attended by 40 people at the Marriott Hotel, was broken up by baton-wielding police.

Musharraf8217;s emergency order suspended the 1973 constitution. Seven of the 17 Supreme Court judges immediately rejected the order, and only five agreed to take the oath of office under the new provisional constitution.

Musharraf issued two ordinances toughening media laws, including a ban on live broadcasts of 8220;incidents of violence and conflict.8221; Also, TV operators who 8220;ridicule8221; the president, armed forces, and other powerful state bodies face up to three years in jail.

Don8217;t demand your level of democracy, he tells the West

Defending Emergency, Musharraf quotes Abraham Lincoln, justification for 1864 martial law: 8220;Life cannot be put to risk for a limb and sometimes a limb has to be amputated to save life8221;

8226; To West, he says 8220;please do not expect or demand your level of democracy which you have learnt over four centuries8230; please give us time8230; do not expect the same level of civil liberties and human rights8230; we are also learning8221;

8226; 8220;Understand the criticality of the situation8230; Pakistan is on the verge of destabilization8221;