[QODLink]
Central & South Asia
Attack deepens Pakistan judge row
Shots are fired at the home of the lawyer representating the suspended chief justice.
Last Modified: 12 May 2007 14:48 GMT
Chaudhry's suspension sparked anti-Musharraf protests throughout Pakistan [AFP] 

Unidentified assailants have fired shots at the home of a lawyer representing Pakistan's suspended chief justice.
 
No one was injured in Thursday's attack, but the incident has added to the tension over Iftikhar Chaudhry's controversial dismissal by General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president.
Chaudhry has drawn popular support for his opposition to governmental malpractice.
 
Munir Malik, the lawyer, and police said about 15 shots were fired before dawn towards his house in Karachi.
 
Two shots hit an upstairs lounge where Malik said his 17-year-old daughter was sitting at a computer.

The attack came two days before a planned rally in the southern city in support of Chaudhry who drew large crowds of supporters earlier in the week when he addressed lawyers in Lahore.

 

Your Views

"It would be in the best interests of Pakistan for Musharraf to step down"

Jim ibarra, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Send us your views

Malik said it was part of a campaign of intimidation against those working for the reinstatement of the supreme court's suspended chief justice.

 

Widespread protests

 

Chaudhry's suspension triggered countrywide protests and calls for Musharraf to step down.

 

Malik said: "It will not deter me from representing the chief justice and we will carry on our campaign for the independence of the judiciary."

 

He stopped short of naming any specific suspects.

 

Pakistan has been slipping towards political crisis ever since Musharraf, a significant ally of the US, suspended Chaudhry on March 9 over allegations of misconduct.

 

The government insists the move was not political and said it has evidence that Chaudhry sought unwarranted favours for himself and relatives - something the judge denies.

 

But its action has angered lawyers, drawn wide condemnation in the media and galvanised Pakistan's fragmented political opposition, which is intensifying its campaign against Musharraf's plan to seek another term as president later this year.

Source:
Agencies
Topics in this article
People
Country
Featured on Al Jazeera
In the frozen peaks of Afghanistan's Kunar province, a ferocious clash for supremacy rages amid the mountaintops.
Indigenous community with "third world conditions" sits 90km from diamond mine, prompting fight for resource royalties.
There is a unique and dangerous commerce system at work in Amazonia, where children risk their lives for a few pennies.
Organisations that influence social, cultural and political issues in the US have been hijacked by the far right.
<  > 
join our mailing list

Enter Zip Code
Go