Pakistani Protesters Clash with Police over Judge

Pakistani police fired teargas and detained about 150 opposition activists.

Protesters took to the streets of several cities to denounce the government's suspension of the country's chief judge.

The government moved to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary a week ago, sparking protests by lawyers and opposition parties against President Pervez Musharraf, who is expected to seek election for another term late this year.

In Islamabad, hundreds of extra police were on the streets using concrete blocks and coils of barbed wire to seal off the city centre, including the Supreme Court, where a hearing into accusations against Chaudhary resumed.

Despite the cordon, about 600 lawyers in business suits, bearded Islamist politicians and liberal party supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court chanting "Go Musharraf Go!".

They cheered and clapped as Chaudhary arrived for the closed-door hearing with his lawyers in two vehicles.

Earlier, the leader of an opposition alliance of Islamist parties, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, called for the army to support the protest.

"It is the duty of every Pakistani to come out and join the movement," Ahmed said.

"We call on the army and other institutions -- this movement is for the survival of these institutions," he said shortly before he was led away by plain-clothes police, along with about a dozen supporters, witnesses said.

The government has released no details of the accusations against Chaudhary but a state-run news agency cited "misconduct and misuse of authority". There has been no indication how long the hearing against him will last.

The affair has fuelled suspicion that Musharraf feared the independent-minded judge would oppose any move by him to retain his role as army chief, which constitutionally he should relinquish this year.

A senior U.S. official said on Thursday the United States was watching. The United States sees Musharraf as a vital ally in the war on terrorism while it also encourages democracy.

RAID ON TV OFFICE

Small groups of Islamist alliance supporters shouted "Allah akbar" (God is Greatest) before police firing teargas chased them away, stopping them from joining the rally at the Supreme Court.

Police raided the nearby office of private Geo television, breaking windows and scuffling with staff and demanding the removal a roof-top camera beaming pictures of the disturbances, said bureau chief Hamid Mir.

Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani criticised the police action.

There has been a flood of media criticism of the government over Chaudhary's removal and authorities banned a television talk show that has been focusing on the case.

Chaudhary refused to resign and has been largely confined to his Islamabad home since his suspension. He has told the first sitting of a panel of five judges in the Supreme Judicial Council that he does not expect a fair hearing.

Musharraf, accused by lawyers and opponents of acting unconstitutionally in trying to sack Chaudhary, said on Thursday he would not interfere.

Supporters of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), some carrying placards reading "Stop the murder of Justice", reached the rally at the Supreme Court.

"Our struggle will continue until the end of dictatorship," one PPP leader, Raza Rabani, told the crowd.

Members of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whom army chief Musharraf overthrew in a 1999 coup, denounced "dictatorship".

Protests were held in other cities including Karachi, Peshawar and Multan, where about 25 activists were detained, an opposition official said.

In Lahore, police said they detained about 125 activists and later wielded batons and fired teargas to disperse protesters.