Fresh unrest as Musharraf mulls elections

Islamabad: Stone-throwing lawyers again clashed with baton-wielding police as President Pervez Musharraf's government considered on Tuesday when to hold elections amid growing international pressure to end emergency rule and restore democracy.

Unrest broke out in the central city of Multan, when hundreds of police blocked about 1,000 lawyers from leaving a district court complex to stage a street rally. Both sides pelted each other with stones and police swung batons to disperse the crowd.

An Associated Press reporter saw at least three lawyers were wounded, two bleeding from the head. At least three lawyers were arrested.

In a separate clash, police stormed Multan's High Court and arrested at least six lawyers.

President Bush has urged Musharraf, a close ally in Washington's war on terror, to hold parliamentary elections in January as originally planned. But there did not appear to be a unified position among senior government officials on when polls would be held.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would chair a Cabinet meeting later Tuesday to try to hammer out the date.

''But it will take some time,'' said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, a Cabinet member who is close to Musharraf. He said the president wanted to go ahead with the polls as planned, but ''some elements want them to be delayed for a year.''