ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's prime minister said Sunday that up to 500 people had been detained after Pakistan's military ruler suspended the constitution, ousted the top judge and deployed troops to fight amid rising Islamic extremism. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also said during a press conference that parliamentary elections could be postponed up to a year, but that no such decision had been made.
Earlier, police wielding assault rifles rounded up opposition leaders and rights activists after Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday night, dashing hopes of a smooth transition to democracy for the nuclear-armed nation.
"Gen. Musharraf's second coup," said the headline in the Dawn daily. "It is martial law," said the Daily Times. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup but had promised to hand over his army fatigues and become a civilian president this year.
Activists, lawyers arrested
Across Pakistan, police arrested political activists and lawyers at the forefront of a campaign against military rule. Among those detained 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 Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror.
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