|
Pakistan Militants Vow to Storm Base
By ZIA MAZHAR
Associated Press Writer
JACOBABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Police erected blockades and sandbag bunkers across a southern city Tuesday, girding for mass demonstrations after Islamic militants vowed to storm a Pakistani air base being used to support U.S. military personnel.
More than 100 people had been arrested by midmorning after a protest inside Jacobabad, site of Shahbaz Air Base, though the unrest was not widespread. Most shops were closed and many streets were deserted except for police, army and paramilitary troops.
Islamic militants summoned by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest and most influential religious party, vowed to seize the base Tuesday afternoon. The party had vowed to marshal thousands of supporters.
It wants to expel U.S. personnel supporting the U.S.-led military campaign designed to root out terrorist installations in Afghanistan belonging to Osama bin Laden, top suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.
Most roads to the city have been blocked and patrolled for days to prevent mass entry, though some were reported open Tuesday. During the morning, about 200 militant Muslims appeared inside the city, chanting anti-government slogans. They made no immediate move toward the base three miles away.
Police rushed them with batons, ordering them to disperse. Nearly all were arrested, according to an Associated Press photographer on the scene who said at least five protesters appeared to have been injured by batons.
Two more small groups of demonstrators _ one of 25 people, the other of about 15 _ were arrested shortly afterward when they started to march toward the base. Authorities said they had been hiding in houses and were emerging sporadically.
Earlier, Jacobabad Police Chief Akhtar Shah said authorities had also arrested about 100 activists since Sunday to prevent air-base-related demonstrations. The militants claim to have thousands more ready.
"We will reach the air base at any cost," said Maulana Abdul Hafeez Bajarani, a Jamaat-e-Islami spokesman in Jacobabad.
On Monday, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami was barred by police from traveling _ an attempt to defuse the planned demonstrations. The leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, was visibly angry.
"The days of this government are numbered, and Musharraf will no longer be in power after a few days," he said at the airport in the eastern city of Lahore. He wouldn't elaborate.
Jamaat-e-Islami said police had arrested at least 1,100 supporters over the past two days; authorities say the number is far lower.
Other activists have gone into hiding, determined to avoid arrest until they make it to Jacobabad for the protest, Jamaat-e-Islami said.
On Oct. 14, Islamic militants fought running street battles with police in Jacobabad. One protester was killed as mobs fought to reach the air base.
Hundreds of activists were arrested before that rally as well, though most were freed afterward. Three leading Islamic clerics were placed under house arrest at the start of the campaign, another pre-emptive move to block opposition. One has since been released.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government says Pakistan is lending only logistical support to the United States. He has promised that no attacks on Afghanistan will be staged from Pakistani soil.
Musharraf has insisted for weeks that most of Pakistan is behind him, and protests _ while loud and sometimes violent _ have been scattered and have included only a sliver of Pakistan's population.
"Yes, there are risks," Musharraf said Tuesday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "But I know that a vast majority of the country is supporting whatever decision I took."
|