1st Sep 2014 11:22
Islamabad (Alliance News) - Pakistan's powerful military and Supreme Court stepped up efforts Monday to resolve a political crisis after anti-government protesters briefly occupied the headquarters of state television, officials said.
Earlier Monday, thousands of protesters marching towards the official residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and demanding his resignation, were met by police around a kilometre away from their target.
A group of around 1,000 demonstrators broke away from the main march, led by opposition politician Imran Khan and Pakistani-Canadian cleric Tahirul Qadri, and broke into the Pakistan Television (PTV) building.
Protesters armed with sticks damaged equipment in the central news room and the main control office, said Athar Farooq, the director at Pakistan television.
Pakistani soldiers removed the protesters from building, enabling transmissions to restart after 40 minutes, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said.
Soon afterwards, army chief General Raheel Sharif began an emergency meeting with Sharif.
The meeting, still under way in Islamabad, could be "a make or break event," political commentator Mazhar Abbas said.
The military is seen as having wide influence in political matters in a country ruled by generals for almost half of its history.
In an emergency meeting overnight Sunday, army commanders called for resolving the crisis through dialogue "without wasting any more time."
The Supreme Court Monday called on protesters to find a constitutional way out of the crisis.
Pakistani politics have been paralyzed by the crisis that started when Khan and Qadri led separate rallies of supporters into the capital Islamabad from eastern Lahore city on August 14, calling for Sharif's resignation.
Khan alleged that last year's general elections that brought Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League to power were rigged. Qadri wants a complete overhaul of electoral system ahead of fresh elections.
Two weeks of peaceful protests turned violence after protest leaders urged their supporters to march towards Sharif's residence, and they were confronted by police.
At least three people were killed and over 500 injured, including policemen, in clashes on Saturday night, medical sources said.
Fresh clashes erupted on Monday when thousands of protesters armed with rocks and sticks again marched towards Sharif's residence, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said.
The government has deployed more than 40,000 police and soldiers to help quell the unrest.
Copyright dpa