Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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November 8, 2007

More Arrests Reported in Pakistan; Bhutto Prepares For Friday Protest
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A2E0E2:A6F02AD83191E160BA81EF76E12AF2CB2A201403E89ED254 Benazir Bhutto's
Pakistan People's Party says more than 1,000 party supporters are now
under arrest The Pakistan People Party of former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto says police have arrested hundreds more of its
supporters. Party officials say the arrests are aimed at sabotaging a
Friday rally called to protest President Pervez Musharraf's
declaration of emergency rule, as VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from
Islamabad.







Lawyers hold a protest rally against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's
imposition of emergency rule, Islamabad, Pakistan, 08 Nov 2007A
spokeswoman for the Pakistan People's Party, Farzana Raja, says more
than a thousand party supporters are now under arrest, mostly in the
country's most populous province, Punjab.

She says the authorities continued rounding up party organizers
overnight. While Ms. Bhutto called on people Wednesday to submit to
arrest in order to protest the emergency decree, party leaders want a
successful turnout at Friday's rally in Rawalpindi.

"For that reason, the main leadership and office bearers have gone
underground [into hiding], and they are not available to the police so
they can't arrest them," said Raja.

Law enforcement officials were unable to confirm the large-scale
arrests when contacted by VOA. But police officials in Rawalpindi, the
headquarters of Pakistan's armed forces, have said they will enforce
the emergency laws, which ban such demonstrations.


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