Sharif to march challenging Emergency

PAKISTAN, Police erected barbed-wire barricades Thursday to deter supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from their plans to challenge emergency rule by marching on the heavily guarded home of Pakistan's deposed chief justice.

Officers beefed up security around the official residence of Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest since Nov. 3, when President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency and sacked most of the Supreme Court's justices.

Meanwhile, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party of another former premier, Benazir Bhutto, were reported to be nearing agreement on a joint set of conditions for their participation in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8.

Both parties claim the U.S.-backed government plans to rig the vote, and have threatened a boycott unless their demands are met. They are expected to demand the restoration of an independent judiciary and the constitution, the creation of a neutral caretaker government and independent election commission, and will likely set a deadline for the government to agree.

"We are not in favor of boycott for the sake of boycott," said Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-N.

A boycott would undercut the efforts of Musharraf - a key U.S. ally in the war on terror - to ease Pakistan back toward democracy after eight years of military rule.

It would also represent a major setback for the United States, which has promoted the former four-star general as a moderate leader able to stand up to Islamic extremism.

Since returning from exile in Saudi Arabia 10 days ago, Sharif - who was ousted by the Musharraf in a military coup in 1999 - has become the president's most vehement critic.

Sharif planned lead a march of Muslim League-N supporters on Chaudhry's home. The chief justice has been held under house arrest since Musharraf declared the emergency - just before the Supreme Court was about to rule on validity of the president's re-election in October.

Islamabad, Thursday, AFP