ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani police, using tear gas and batons, clashed with lawyers and journalists Monday as they continue to enforce President Pervez Musharraf's emergency declaration.
Lawyers take to the streets on Monday outside a district court in Islamabad in protest against emergency rule.
The incident outside the courthouse in Lahore came as more than 1,500 lawyers were arrested across the country -- 1,200 in Lahore itself --with police blocking roads leading to courthouses in major cities.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at a news conference in the West Bank during Middle East peace talks, urged Musharraf to sever his links with the military and reinstate civilian rule, The Associated Press said Monday.
Rice said Musharraf should stick to his word and "take off his uniform," the agency reported. "I want to be very clear. We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections," she said in comments carried by AP
The Pakistani government, a nuclear power and key ally in the war against terror, denied Monday that Musharraf had been placed under house arrest, a rumor that was circulating widely through the country.
A spokesman for the People's Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called Musharraf's declaration an "act of terror" against civil society and predicted it marked "the beginning of the end of Musharraf."
Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told CNN that parliamentary elections -- which had been set for January -- would not be held until "things become normal." Interior Minister discusses the emergency with CNN
While President Musharraf said the suspension of the constitution was made necessary by the growing threat of terrorism and out-of-control judicial activism, opponents said Musharraf was trying to avoid a Supreme Court decision expected in the coming days that could have ruled that he was not eligible for another presidential term.
The United States, in reaction, postponed a Pentagon official's visit to Pakistan this week for a yearly meeting with his Pakistani defense counterpart.
The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and several other senior diplomats met with Musharraf on Monday to discuss the crisis, the U.S. embassy said. It did not disclose what was said.
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