The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Islamabad

Several hundred Pakistan opposition activists gathered outside the Supreme Court on Friday to denounce President Pervez Musharraf's bid to win another term in an October 6 election. About 500 activists, most from an alliance of religious parties, chanted "Go Musharraf go" outside the Supreme Court and carried a coffin symbolizing what they hope will be the death of military rule. Army chief Musharraf will seek re-election despite legal challenges to his bid for power in the Supreme Court and slumping popularity. The opposition has vowed to boycot Musharraf's election by an electoral college made up of members of the two houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies, just before they are to be dissolved for a general election due by mid-January. "If the Election Commissioner accepts Musharraf's nomination papers, all opposition parties will resign from the National Assembly and provincial assemblies," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of the Islamist alliance, told the crowd.