Pak police block Sharif march

Chaudhry has been under house arrest since November 3 when President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency.

Sharif led the marchers — who included members of his party, lawyers in black suits and a number of women carrying flowers, chanting “Finish with your show; go, Musharraf, go” — to the barricades.

He then briefly addressed them before they dispersed peacefully, defusing a potential showdown with a Government that has shown no tolerance for public dissent. Sharif vowed to continue pursuing the reinstatement of Chaudhry and other judges, saying “God willing, we will be victorious”.

“I want to tell the nation that past dictators were also used to ousting prime ministers, arresting them from their houses and hanging even one of them,” he said. “Now a dictator has attacked the judiciary, and if the nation today ignores these actions of a dictator, history will not forgive it.”

Meanwhile, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League(N) and the Pakistan People’s Party of Benazir Bhutto were reported to be nearing agreement on a joint set of conditions for their participation in parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8.

Both parties claim the Government plans to rig the vote, and have threatened a boycott unless their demands are met. They are expected to demand restoration of an independent judiciary and the Constitution, and creation of a neutral caretaker Government and independent election commission.