President Pervez Musharraf had more trouble on his hands today over the suspension of the Pakistan Chief Justice after the police barged into the offices of the country’s biggest private broadcaster Geo TV and beat up journalists and fired teargas shells there.

In another part of Islamabad, riot police fired rubber bullets and teargas at agitating lawyers and political workers outside the Supreme Court as Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, suspended a week back by the General, was inside appearing before the Supreme Judicial Council hearing charges against him.

The agitation added a new dimension when the police raided the office of Geo TV, which had come under tremendous pressure from the establishment over its coverage of the judge’s suspension. Musharraf later condemned the police raid on Geo TV as an act of “sabotage” against his government, and apologised to the channel. Meanwhile, US has asked Musharraf to handle the “sensitive” situation carefully.

-PTI