Court Dismisses Legal Challenge Against Musharraf

Wow- what a surprise!

Bhutto Released from House Arrest

Reuters has just reported that Pakistan's Bhutto was released from house arrest.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was freed from house arrest late on Friday, hours after she was stopped from leaving her Islamabad home to lead a rally against the president's imposition of emergency rule.

"The detention order has been withdrawn," said Aamir Ali Ahmed, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad.

Bhutto Supporters Take to the Streets

The situation in Pakistan is ever evolving and becomes larger by the day. According to MSNBC, backers of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and police clashed outside of Parliament. They report:

Police swung batons and fired tear gas at supporters of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto near Pakistan's Parliament on Wednesday, deepening a political crisis triggered by the imposition of military rule.

Earlier, Bhutto called on supporters to defy a ban on protesting the emergency declaration “at all costs,” even as the government threatened to crush her demonstrations.

Outside the parliament building, Associated Press reporters saw hundreds of protesters pushing metal barricades into ranks of riot police blocking their path. Police beat several activists who broke through, and dragged at least three away from the scene.

Just what the outcome of this will be remains a mystery. Will the U.S. and other Western powers continue to back dictator President Musharraf or will they embrace a change of course in Pakistan. With all the constant talk of spreading 'liberty' and 'democracy' (whatever the hell that really means), it would seem to be a no-brainer.

The Crisis in Pakistan

The first large scale demonstrations since the declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan by Musharraf broke out on Monday when thousands of lawyers took to the streets across Pakistan. Police used both tear gas and batons to break up the demonstrations.

The Washington Post reports:

The largest rally took place in the eastern city of Lahore, where lawyers and police battled each other at the city's High Court complex. Several lawyers were injured, and hundreds were arrested before the protesters were dispersed.

Lawyers vowed to continue their protests in the coming days.

"We are determined that until there is freedom for the judges and the overturn of emergency rule, this will war will continue," said Anwar Shaheen, a lawyer in Lahore. "They can't quiet us."

Skirmishes also took place in the western city of Peshawar and the southern city of Karachi. In Islamabad, hundreds of lawyers shouting "Go Musharraf, go!" and "Musharraf is a dog!" protested at the districts courts, but were blocked from taking their procession to the streets.

"He has held the whole nation of 160 million people hostage, just with the backing of the gun and the Western powers," said one protesting lawyer, M.S. Moghul.

This situation has the potential not only to grow inside of Pakistan itself, but perhaps even spread to other countries in the region. Over at TPM Cafe, Steve Clemons has a great article about this in which he states:

"The fact is that governance in a region that is ambivalent about America, Europe and the West in general is becoming more complicated everywhere in the Middle East and South Asia. And it is America's failure in Iraq, its unwillingness to deliver on Palestine, and its bellicosity and hubris that are motivating the Muslim street against those perceived to be aligned with American interests."

This is an issue that we all need to keep an eye on. It will be interesting in the next few days to see if the U.S. will acknowledge the desires of the Pakistani people (i.e. democracy) or throw their weight behind Musharraf.

Here's a clip regarding the situation there.