Pakistani police break up coup anniversary protest

LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 12 (Reuters) Police baton-charged supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif today after they refused to end a protest to mark the seventh anniversary of his overthrow in a coup.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party had called for nationwide protests to mark the anniversary of the bloodless coup by army chief General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, 1999.

About 30 protesters, including some women, gathered on a main road in the eastern city of Lahore chanting: ''Go Musharraf Go'', ''Killer of Democracy: General Musharraf'' and ''Long Live Nawaz Sharif''.

Police wielding bamboo batons dispersed the protesters after they ignored orders to clear the road, witnesses said.

''They refused to end their protest and that's why we took this action,'' said Lahore police spokesman Athar Ali Shah.

Fifteen protesters were arrested and five were hurt, he said.

Demonstrations and sit-ins also took place in the cities of Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Faisalabad, police said.

There was no word of any trouble at those protests.

Many Pakistanis fed up with elected leaders viewed as corrupt and inept welcomed Musharraf's coup, but some are now growing weary of military rule.

Musharraf, who remains army chief, became president in 2001 and is expected to stand for another five-year term as president next year.

Sharif lives in exile, mostly in Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for his party, Rahim Qadri, decried the police action in Lahore. ''It is cruel that they don't allow us to protest, which is our democratic and basic right,'' Qadri said.

In the capital, Islamabad, about 25 supporters of Musharraf gathered on a main road near a central market and held aloft pictures of the president.

''Great nation, great leader!'' some of them shouted.

REUTERS MQA BS1922