The Commonwealth on Monday gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension from the 53-nation grouping.
Pakistan placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto back under house arrest Tuesday, setting up a tense new showdown over her plans for a mass procession against emergency rule.
US President George W. Bush wants emergency rule lifted first in Pakistan to enable "free and fair" elections to go ahead, the White House said Monday.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will not be allowed to hold a protest procession across Pakistan because it will violate a ban on political rallies under the state of emergency, a government spokesman said Monday.
The Commonwealth threatened on Monday to suspend Pakistan unless President Pervez Musharraf repealed emergency laws and took other rapid steps to address his country's problems.
Pakistan's government Monday banned opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from holding a protest rally against emergency rule and said it may place her under effective house arrest.
When President Ronald Reagan greeted Pakistan's dictator, Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, at a White House state dinner, Aitzez Ahsan was in jail for protesting too loudly about the lack of democracy. Now he is in jail again.
Pakistan's opposition called on Gen. Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, threatening Monday to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections unless citizens' rights were fully restored and he stepped down as army chief.
by Pyotr Goncharov Moscow (RIA Novosti) Nov 13, 2007 Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has ignored the urgent calls, not to mention the demands, from his chief sponsors, the U.S. and Europe (as represented by Britain and Germany) to lift the state of emergency, restore constitutional order and civilian rule in the country.
Pakistan's opposition called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, saying Monday that upcoming parliamentary elections would be a sham unless citizens' rights were fully restored. Several parties were mulling a boycott.