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Security barricades removed

Nirupama Subramanian

No restrictions on Chaudhary, orders Supreme Judicial Council

INTENSIFYING PROTESTS: A Pakistani lawyer hurls back a tear gas shell at the riot police during a rally against the removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary in Lahore on Saturday. - PHOTO: AP

ISLAMABAD: Security barricades around the home of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary were removed on Saturday after a directive from the Supreme Judicial Council that there should be no restrictions on him.

The five-judge panel headed by acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal issued the directive on Friday when Mr. Chaudhary appeared before it.

His defence team, comprising four well-known lawyers, requested an adjournment as they had not been able to meet Mr. Chaudhary on account of the restrictions preventing people from meeting him.

Adjourning the hearing until March 21, the panel made it clear that there were no restrictions on Mr. Chaudhary and asked the concerned authorities to ensure this.

The hearing did not take up the charges against Mr. Chaudhary.

He has not yet been told what they are, his defence lawyers told journalists.

U.S. for "restraint"

PTI reports from Washington:

Amid growing confrontation over the issue, the U.S. has advised ``restraint'' and ``accommodation'' on both sides but still backed the General, saying he was ``advancing'' the cause of democracy in the country.

A day after saying the developments were a matter of ``deep concern'', Washington has made it clear that it continues to see Gen . Musharraf as ``an ally in the war on terror''.

``President Musharraf is a good friend and ally in the war on terror, that he has a vision for Pakistan in terms of political and economic and social reform ...

"We have encouraged the democratic development of Pakistan, and and Musharraf has made progress in that regard,'' said State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack.

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