Top Judge's Ouster Shakes Pakistan

The protests were broadcast live on the independent television station Geo TV, and riot police stormed the station's Islamabad office during the protests in an attempt to shut it down. Geo TV representatives said the police released tear gas in the office, roughed up the station's journalists and trashed furniture.

Musharraf later apologized in a live interview with Geo.

"It was a very sad incident. It should have not happened, and I condemn it," he said, adding, "The culprits responsible for it must be identified, and action against them must be taken."

On Thursday night, the government had banned a Geo TV news show hosted by Kamran Khan, who is also a Washington Post special correspondent. Khan was allowed back on the air Friday.

Ali Dayan Hasan, a researcher for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, called the Musharraf government's reaction to the protests "a disgrace."

"The government of Pakistan had every opportunity to prevent the violence that took place," Hasan said. "But it seems there was a willful policy to attack. This seems like the behavior of an insecure and desperate government."

The intensifying domestic pressure on Musharraf comes just weeks after a visit by Vice President Cheney in which U.S. officials pushed for greater Pakistani cooperation in anti-terrorist campaigns against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The United States has long considered Musharraf a critical ally, but since Cheney's visit there has been widespread speculation in the Pakistani news media that the relationship between Islamabad and Washington is fraying.

U.S. officials on Friday declined to criticize Musharraf. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack defended him as "acting in the best interests of Pakistan and the Pakistani people." But he also called on both sides to show restraint.

"Protesters should be able to exercise their right to really voice their opinions with respect to political matters, and the police have a job to do as well," McCormack said.

Musharraf has maintained relatively broad popularity in Pakistan during his eight years in office. Opposition to his rule has long been fractured, but the dismay over Chaudhry's suspension seems to have united disparate groups, at least for now.

Lawyers have spearheaded most of the protests across the country since the chief justice was suspended. Many have boycotted court proceedings or held hunger strikes to protest what they see as unconstitutional interference in the judicial system.

Talat Hussain, director of news and current affairs for Pakistan's Aaj Television, said Musharraf would have trouble dismissing the protests over Chaudhry because they are not driven by politics or religion, but by concern for the rule of law and the constitution.

"The judge was neither a political threat nor was he associated with an extremist threat," Hussain said. "Musharraf's credibility seems to be very, very low. And he's vulnerable."

A judicial council is reviewing Chaudhry's suspension to determine whether it was lawful. The council did not reach a decision during a hearing Friday and will resume deliberations Wednesday.

Chaudhry, who has been held under house arrest, has said he does not expect a fair hearing.

Special correspondent Shahzad Khurram in Islamabad contributed to this report.