03-15-2009, 01:11 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan puts army on standby as protests continue</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | Islamabad
Pakistan put its army on standby and placed barricades on the boulevard leading to the Parliament House as the confrontation between country's two main parties PPP and PML-N showed no signs of abating despite frantic mediation efforts.
As the Government asked the troops to be deployed in all sensitive areas in the capital, sealed of all highways leading to it, protesting lawyers and opposition parties said they will go ahead with their mass sit-in outside the National assembly.
<b>"The troops will remain on alert and will be deployed only if the situation warrants it," </b>chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told Dawn News channel.
Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik warned that the protesters, who are seeking reinstatement of judges sacked in 2007 emergency, will not be allowed to come anywhere near Parliament House, which has been barricaded.
Malik said that<b> extra-ordinary security measures were being taken as intelligence agencies have warned that terrorists could take advantage of the protest to carry out "target killings" and a "series of bombings", including suicide attacks</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
pioneer.com
PTI | Islamabad
Pakistan put its army on standby and placed barricades on the boulevard leading to the Parliament House as the confrontation between country's two main parties PPP and PML-N showed no signs of abating despite frantic mediation efforts.
As the Government asked the troops to be deployed in all sensitive areas in the capital, sealed of all highways leading to it, protesting lawyers and opposition parties said they will go ahead with their mass sit-in outside the National assembly.
<b>"The troops will remain on alert and will be deployed only if the situation warrants it," </b>chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told Dawn News channel.
Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik warned that the protesters, who are seeking reinstatement of judges sacked in 2007 emergency, will not be allowed to come anywhere near Parliament House, which has been barricaded.
Malik said that<b> extra-ordinary security measures were being taken as intelligence agencies have warned that terrorists could take advantage of the protest to carry out "target killings" and a "series of bombings", including suicide attacks</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->