ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Tens of thousands of protesters swarmed into Pakistan’s capital Friday for a raucous, sweat-soaked rally led by lawyers demanding the reinstatement of judges purged by President Pervez Musharraf.
The gathering, one of the largest ever in Islamabad, threatened to widen a rift within the governing coalition over the judges. Some analysts said it could prod the partners to find a way to restore the justices and hasten the exit of the unpopular U.S.-backed president.
After about 30 hours on the road, senior lawyers took to a stage atop shipping containers a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s floodlit parliament. Also on the dais to address the crowd, which numbered about 20,000 as speeches began early today, was former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
People massed at towns along the Grand Trunk Road as the “Long March” crawled toward Islamabad on a hot, humid day.
Protesters shouted, “Hang Musharraf!” and “Go, Musharraf, go!” Police estimated 40,000 had joined the procession at its height.
Musharraf imposed emergency rule and purged the Supreme Court in November to halt legal challenges to his re-election as president by the previous parliament. He accused then-Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry of conspiring against his plan to guide Pakistan back to democracy.
