More than 3,000 lawyers called on President Pervez Musharraf to quit as fresh protests erupted here over his removal of Pakistan's top judge.
LAHORE, PAKISTAN: More than 3,000 lawyers called on President Pervez Musharraf to quit on Wednesday as fresh protests erupted here over his removal of Pakistan's top judge, witnesses and police said.
Military ruler Musharraf has faced the biggest crisis of his eight years in power since ordering the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9.
Carrying black banners and chanting 'Go Musharraf, go' the black-suited lawyers in the eastern city of Lahore removed barricades the police had erected on a busy road to block the march, witnesses said.
Police withdrew the cordon as the massive crowd, joined by leaders and workers from opposition parties, came out of the high court building.
The lawyers planned to stage a sit-in outside the provincial assembly building to press their demand for Chaudhry's reinstatement.
Separately in Islamabad some 300 protesters carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from driving rain broke through two police cordons and headed towards parliament, an AFP reporter said.
Musharraf's removal of Chaudhry has sparked a series of violent protests, with police firing tear gas at demonstrators in Islamabad on Friday and Lahore on Saturday.
Pakistan's legal establishment has led the opposition to the president's action.
Eight judges and a deputy attorney general have quit over the row while lawyers have been staging near-daily strikes and rallies.
Details of the charges against Chaudhry were published in newspapers here for the first time on Wednesday, including that he obtained a series of top jobs for his son.
His lawyers deny the allegations.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup, said in a television interview on Monday that his actions were constitutional and that he would not impose a state of emergency over the row.
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