The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Karachi

Lawyers rallied against President Pervez Musharraf across Pakistan on Monday, burning him in effigy, calling for his ouster and demanding the reinstatement of judges in the kick-off of a campaign that could strain the shaky coalition government.

The "Long March" by lawyers to the capital was heralded by gatherings in major cities and is expected to culminate later this week with a rally and sit-in outside parliament in Islamabad. Thousands of political activists and others were expected to join the demonstrations.

Lawyers spearheaded opposition to Musharraf's rule last year. But their new protests to step up pressure on the U.S.-allied leader to resign are also deepening rifts between the two main parties in the administration that won election on anti-Musharraf platforms.

The protests come as the two-month-old government faces a slew of other tests, including an ailing economy and Islamic militancy - the latter a major concern of the United States and other nations in the West.

The two main groups in the ruling coalition - the Pakistan People's Party of Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Muslim League-N of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - have failed to resolve differences over how to reinstate judges fired by the president in November. Sharif has pulled his members from the Cabinet and his party is participating in the protests.