Opponents march against Musharraf

Journalists held angry protests outside parliament

Opponents of President Musharraf have held fresh protests against his government in cities across Pakistan.

Thousands of lawyers and opposition supporters marched through the centre of Lahore. Journalists also rallied in Islamabad and several other cities.

Analysts say the protest campaign is the most serious challenge to President Musharraf since he seized power.

The latest demonstrations came as the government said it was suspending sweeping new curbs on the media.

No action will be taken against broadcasters under the ordinance until the committee submits its report Information Minister Ali Durrani

The president ordered the restrictions on Monday amid continuing criticism by the media of his suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and its coverage of the anti-government rallies which followed.

Meanwhile, government lawyers have rejected Mr Chaudhry's assertion that he was "illegally detained" by the heads of the country's secret intelligence agencies on the day he was ousted in March.

The lawyers submitted responses to the chief justice in the Supreme Court on behalf of Gen Musharraf's chief of staff and two intelligence agency heads.

According to Mr Chaudhry, who denies abusing his powers, intelligence chiefs spent five hours trying to force him to resign.

'Crackdown'

Opposition parties say hundreds of their activists were detained in Punjab province in the run-up to Thursday's protests over the judge's suspension.

Opposition to Gen Musharraf is focusing around Mr Chaudhry

The authorities confirm making arrests but put the number of detainees lower.

On Thursday, thousands of opposition members and lawyers marched through the centre of Lahore.

Shouting "Go, Musharraf, go", they burned copies of the new media regulations which had been suspended just hours earlier.

"We express solidarity with media men and condemn the new rules," Liaquat Baloch, a senior Jamaat-i-Islami party leader, told the rally.

BBC correspondents say rallies were also held in small towns elsewhere in Punjab and Sindh Provinces. Demonstrations also took place in Karachi and Quetta.

Our correspondents say that nearly all the rallies took place relatively peacefully.

The new media laws have incensed Gen Musharraf's opponents, who have been staging demonstrations against his rule since he suspended Mr Chaudhry.

Judge Chaudhry's supporters say Gen Musharraf was trying to muzzle the independence of the judiciary in an election year.

Most of Pakistan's legal community came out in open support of the judge. They were soon joined by Pakistan's religious and secular opposition parties.

Many of their protests have resulted in bloodshed.

Media rules

An official statement said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had ordered a review of the new restrictions following a meeting of representatives of Pakistan's newspapers and broadcasters.

The controversial new controls gave the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) new powers to suspend broadcasters' licenses, seal their premises and confiscate equipment.

The government has also blocked transmission of three private television stations.