Lawyers clashed with riot police in Pakistan again today as the sacked former chief justice called for people "to rise up" to restore the constitution suspended by President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday.
Gen Musharraf's government is today considering when to hold elections amid growing international pressure to end emergency rule.
Pakistani lawyers chant anti-President Pervez Musharraf slogans during a rally in Islamabad today
The deposed head of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, addressed around 20 lawyers gathered inside the Islamabad Bar Association headquarters by phone today as 200 others protested outside.
"The constitution has been ripped to shreds. The lawyers should convey my message to the people to rise up and restore the constitution"
"It's time for sacrifice, and the day will come when the constitution will be restored. It will be restored as it should be. There will be no dictatorship," said Mr Chaudhry, who claims he is under house arrest.
Lawyers outside shouted, "Musharraf is a criminal - we will not accept uniforms or bullets!"
In the central city of Multan, hundreds of police blocked about 1,000 lawyers from leaving a district court complex for a rally. Both sides pelted each other with stones, and police used batons to disperse the crowd.
The clashes marked the second day of unrest since Gen Musharraf sacked independent-minded judges, suppressed the media and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.
Many saw it as a last-ditch effort to cling to power, coming ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his recent re-election as president was legal.
Opposition groups say about 3,500 people have been arrested so far, although government officials put the figure around 2,500. Most are lawyers, although opposition party supporters and rights activists have also been arrested.
The authoritarian measures have drawn widespread international criticism, although so far only the Netherlands has taken action, freezing most of its development aid.
The United States, Pakistan's chief foreign supporter, says it is reviewing aid but is unlikely to cut assistance to a close ally in its "war on terror".
Gen Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, has promised to restore democracy, but there did not appear to be a unified position among senior Pakistan government officials on when elections would be held.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would chair a cabinet meeting later today to try to decide the date.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is expected to travel from Karachi for Islamabad later today and meet other opposition parties tomorrow.
Ms Bhutto, who has held talks on forging an alliance with Gen Musharraf to fight Islamic extremism, narrowly escaped a massive suicide bombing in Karachi last month that killed 145.
Agencies