April 17, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 16: The capital administration here on Monday warned that the law enforcement agencies would take strict legal action against those elements that posed a threat to peace during the next proceeding of the presidential reference against the chief justice of Pakistan on April 18.

The administration issued this warning after some protesters burnt tyres and effigies in front of the Supreme Court building during the last hearing of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

It ordered that in case a similar attempt of burning tyres and effigies was made in future, the law enforcement agencies would be forced to take strict legal action against perpetrators of the crime.

The administration has requested the organisers of all rallies to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies and discourage participants from bringing along with them people who were bent upon disrupting peace.

Walk-through gates would be installed near the Supreme Court so that no suspicious person is allowed to join the rally and become a cause of a security lapse.

Entry of unofficial vehicles, particularly those with sound system/loudspeakers, has been prohibited.

Meanwhile, the local police have started arresting leaders and activists of opposition parties to prevent them from participating in the protest likely to be held in front of Supreme Court on April 18 during the proceeding of Supreme Judicial Council.

Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, when contacted, told Dawn that the police had taken into custody MNA Mian Mohammad Aslam besides other opposition leaders and activists under 3MPO (Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance).

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Islamabad Zafar Iqbal said 41 people of different opposition parties had so far been arrested.

The police would now focus on a list, prepared by law enforcement agencies, of those people caught on tape burning tyres and effigies and creating law and order situation during the last proceeding, the SSP said.

Sources said the police would arrest leaders of opposition parties, including MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed, on Tuesday night.

In the wake of the police move, the leaders of opposition parties have asked their colleagues and activists to go underground to avoid arrest and only appear at the Supreme Court to participate in the protest, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said.

He said more party workers and public should attend the protest because the government could not arrest 1.6 million people.

The law enforcement agencies are raiding houses of PML-N workers and activists since Monday morning, however, no reports of arrest have so far been received, he added.

Secretary-General of Pakistan People’s Party Raja Pervez Ashraf and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal spokesman Shahid Shamsi said the police were arresting their leaders and activists during raids on their houses.