June 11, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 10: As the government is implementing the security plan prepared by the previous government for the federal capital, protesting lawyers face teargas shelling, baton-charge, blocking of main roads and sealing of the Constitution Avenue (red-zone), where the Parliament House, Presidency and the Supreme Court buildings are located.

The plan is designed to restrict participants of the long march from heading to the parliament or the presidency after they reach Islamabad on Thursday.

Although the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rahman Malik, claimed that the government would ‘facilitate’ the lawyers, a large number of containers were placed on different roads in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanai, while presiding over an emergency meeting of coalition partners on Tuesday night, ordered the city administration to remove all containers from all roads except the Constitution Avenue.

There were reports that the provincial governments, especially that of Punjab, had rejected the federal government’s request to send police to Islamabad in aid of the capital’s administration.

However, a senior police official said some 2,500 police personnel had arrived from Punjab.

Main approaches to the Constitution Avenue were barricaded overnight and containers were positioned at other strategic points. The road will be open to traffic on Wednesday because of the announcement of the federal budget, but it would be sealed on Thursday.

Up to 150 containers, 200 large concrete blocks and a similar number of barbed wire rings are in place to secure the area. Three thousand police officials have been deployed to the area.

Sources said that the government and the lawyers still had some differences on the security plan, the long march route and the venue where the lawyers’ protest would culminate in Islamabad.

The prime minister has ordered the administration to chalk out a strategy to maintain law and order during the lawyers’ demonstration.

Rehman Malik, Farook H. Naek, Sherry Rehman, PML-N leaders Raja Zafarul Haq, Ishaq Dar, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Aminullah Jan Afridi attended the meeting.