Around 30 protesters were arrested outside Pakistan's Supreme Court, after demonstrations against the re-election bid of controversial president, General Pervez Musharaff.
Two petitions against Musharaff's re-election bid were dismissed by presiding Judge Rana Bhagwandas, despite widespread concern that Musharaff's dual role as president and head of the army is unconstitutional.
Protesters shouted: "The US government hired a dog in uniform," reports the Associated Press, in reference to Musharaff's contentious dealings with the Bush administration.
After police imposed a ban on gatherings of more than five people in the capital, Islamabad, protesters were rounded up by officers on horseback.
Though Musharaff has offered to resign as army chief if he is awarded a second five-year term, his reign is already under threat by an increasingly powerful Islamic militancy.
"The government is bent upon picking up every opposition man," said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for the party of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. "All fascist tactics are being used and all the state machinery is being exploited for the illegitimate rule of one man."
