By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf vowed Thursday to put down with an iron hand protests against emergency rule in the country, a day after the US pressed the army general to restore democracy, media reports said.
“All means will be used to control the protests,” he was cited as saying by the DawnNews channel.
“No resistance to the imposition of emergency will be tolerated,” he told a meeting of the National Security Council, a state-body that comprises country’s top civilian as well as military leadership.
Hundreds of protesting lawyers have been arrested over the past six days while there have been regular clashes between demonstrators and the police across the country, leaving dozens injured.
Musharraf, who ousted a democratically elected government in a bloodless military coup in 1999, declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution last Saturday.
Many believe the move was aimed at preventing the defiant judiciary from disqualifying him for his next term as president.
The international community condemned the measure and has increased pressure on the general to restore democracy and hold elections on schedule, in mid-January.
“My message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform,” Bush told reporters at George Washington’s mansion in Mount Vernon, Virginia, after telephoning Musharraf Wednesday.
“You can’t be the president and the head of the military at the same time,” he added, appearing with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But Musharraf shrugged off the pressure Thursday. “International community should not exert pressure on Pakistan,” he said.