Parties Rally Against Musharraf

Newly appointed acting Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Rana Bhagwandas, bottom right, is surrounded by media as he leaves after being sworn in, in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, March 24, 2007. (Shakil Adil - AP)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Supporters of opposition parties rallied Monday against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's removal of Pakistan's top judge, raising the stakes in a judicial crisis that threatens to undermine the military ruler's hold on power.

About 600 supporters of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy rallied in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday morning, carrying party flags and chanting "We will fight until Musharraf's rule is ended" and "Restore the chief justice."

About 200 police in riot gear, some wielding tear-gas guns, were deployed near the rally in the city's Kandahari bazaar, said Zahid Afaq, a senior Quetta police officer. There were no reports of violence or arrests in Quetta.

The protest was the latest public outcry over Musharraf's removal of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry earlier this month on unspecified charges of abusing his authority. Lawyers and opposition groups have held dozens of protests across Pakistan. Some have turned violent, leaving several people injured.

However, Monday's protest was the first called jointly by the opposition alliance, which groups Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N. Both are led by former prime ministers living in exile.

Rallies also were scheduled Monday in the cities of Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Opposition leaders said over the weekend that police had arrested hundreds of opposition activists in and around Lahore ahead of the demonstration in that city.

Police said the planned rally was illegal and that 4,000 officers were tasked with enforcing the ban.

"Anyone who will try to take to the street will be dealt with according to the law," said city police chief Malik Mohammed Iqbal.

Musharraf has insisted Chaudhry's suspension was not politically motivated and was within the constitution. But opposition political groups and lawyers accuse Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a 1999 coup, of trying to tame the court before elections likely to trigger legal challenges to his rule.

The United States, Musharraf's main international backer, and the European Union have expressed concern about the standoff, which analysts say could tarnish Musharraf and his supporters ahead of parliamentary elections due within a year. Musharraf himself is expected to seek re-election as president from the outgoing legislature _ a move likely to draw legal challenges before the Supreme Court.

Chaudhry's case is before the Supreme Judicial Council, a panel of five senior judges, which can either confirm or throw out the allegations he faces. The council is scheduled to resume hearings in Chaudhry's case next month.

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Associated Press writers Abdul Satar in Quetta and Asif Shahzad in Lahore contributed to this report.