Uproar in Pakistani assembly over Karachi violence

ISLAMABAD, May 15 (Reuters) Opposition politicians walked out of Pakistan's National Assembly today after chanting ''Go Musharraf Go'', forcing the house to postpone a debate on weekend violence in the city of Karachi.

The opposition blames the government of President Pervez Musharraf and the pro-government Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which runs Karachi, for the death of nearly 40 people in Pakistan's biggest city.

The bloodshed, the country's worst political street violence in years, erupted when Pakistan's suspended top judge tried to meet supporters in the city.

About 150 people were wounded in the clashes between pro-government activists, who opposed the visit by suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and opposition supporters backing him in his confrontation with the government.

Musharraf blamed Chaudhry for the violence, saying he had ignored appeals not to visit the volatile city.

A nationwide opposition protest strike against the violence virtually shut Karachi and other major cities yesterday.

Opposition members of parliament also shouted ''Musharraf murderer, MQM murderers'' before a ruling party member of parliament who was chairing the session read out a presidential order to indefinitely postpone the session.

Government attempts to remove Chaudhry over unspecified accusations of misconduct levelled on March 9 have outraged the judiciary and the opposition and snowballed into a campaign against President Pervez Musharraf.

The campaign is the most serious challenge to the authority of the president, who is also army chief, since he seized power in 1999.

COURT HEARING A Supreme Court hearing into a petition by Chaudhry against an inquiry into the misconduct accusations against him began in Islamabad with Chaudhry's lawyers presenting their case.

Last week, the Supreme Court halted a hearing into the accusations against Chaudhry by a panel of judges known as he Supreme Judicial Council, pending consideration of Chaudhry's challenge.

Musharraf has called for the courts to be allowed to settle the case and has criticised lawyers for politicising it. He has also ruled out a state of emergency and said elections due late in the year would go ahead.

In Karachi, life crept back to normal after the violence and yesterday's protest strike.

''Everything is fine at the moment and city life has returned to normal,'' city police chief Azhar Farooqi told Reuters.

Authorities have banned demonstrations and authorised 13,000 paramilitary troops to shoot anyone involved in serious violence in the city, which has a history of bloody feuding between ethnic-based factions.

Farooqi said the city was largely peaceful yesterday, with no casualties from political violence reported. A paramilitary commander said three people were killed in a clash between rival criminals.

Shares on Pakistan's main stock market rose in early trade, buoyed by increased investor confidence after the market held its own yesterday despite the opposition's nationwide protest strike and political concerns, dealers said.

''Even after yesterday's strike and the political situation the market managed to recover very well and that's why today we are seeing investors building fresh positions,'' said Muzzamil Mussani, a dealer at JS Global Capital Ltd in Karachi.

REUTERS AK HS1355