ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's government moved to curb public dissent against its state of emergency on Tuesday, cutting coverage of the sacked chief justice and arresting 100 lawyers despite an international outcry.   

Military ruler Pervez Musharraf brushed off calls from US President George W. Bush and other world leaders to end the emergency rule declared Saturday, quit as army chief and hold elections due in January.   

Authorities swiftly cut cellphone coverage in parts of Islamabad as former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was fired by President Musharraf at the weekend, addressed a lawyers' rally by telephone. "I want lawyers to spread my message, the time for sacrifice has come and to stand up for the constitution," Chaudhry said in his speech to cheers from his supporters before all lines went dead after about two minutes.   

A telecommunications official confirmed the government had shut down mobile services but said the move was temporary. Officials also cut off telephone services in the hours after the emergency was first imposed. Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999 and has since become a key US ally in the 'war on terror', cited a meddling judiciary as one of the reasons for the emergency, along with spiralling Islamic militancy.   

Chaudhry said Musharraf had taken the step because his 'junta' was afraid about an imminent Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election.    The president first tried to sack the independent-minded chief justice in March, triggering the biggest protests of his eight-year rule.   

The court reinstated Chaudhry in July. Police meanwhile said they had arrested another 100 people who staged fresh protests on Tuesday. Officials said Monday that 1,500 people had been arrested since the weekend. Fifty of the latest detentions came after police took over the high court bar assocation in the eastern city of Lahore and whisked away anyone entering the premises, lawyer Arif Saeed said.   

Lahore was the scene on Monday of the biggest protests since the emergency was declared, when dozens of lawyers were wounded and hundreds arrested. In the southwestern city of Quetta, police arrested the president of the local bar association in the middle of a press conference. Around 300 lawyers held a protest and boycotted courts in Peshawar in the northwest.   

Defying global criticism of the state of emergency and ensuing crackdown, Pakistan's foreign office said it was an 'internal' matter which was needed to fight terrorism. "We understand that many of our friends have commented on the proclamation of emergency in the country, which is first and foremost an internal matter of Pakistan," foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.   

Separately, the government said there was no decision yet on the plan for general elections scheduled for the start of 2008, seen as a key step in the nuclear-armed nation's move to full, civilian democracy. "There is an emergency in the country at the moment, the constitution is held in abeyance and there has been no decision on the schedule of the elections yet," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said.   

His comments came after state media quoted Premier Shaukat Aziz as saying the elections would be held 'according to the schedule' and a spokesman quoted Musharraf as saying they would be "as close as possible to the schedule." Television news channels meanwhile remained blacked out for a fourth day under stringent curbs on the media. UN chief Ban Ki-moon was 'greatly concerned' at the situation and has urged Musharraf to free detainees immediately and restore democracy, his spokeswoman said.   

In Washington, Bush said that 'we expect there to be elections as soon as possible and that the president should remove his military uniform'. The White House said Washington's aid to Pakistan was 'under review', but strongly suggested there would be no reduction. However the European Union warned of "possible further steps to be taken against Islamabad while Britain said it was 'considering the implications' of emergency rule for development and other aid programmes.