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Powell Arrives in Pakistan Amid Violent Protests
ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Islamabad on Monday for talks on the ongoing military campaign in Afghanistan and possible measures to reduce tensions between Pakistan and India, but his arrival was preceded by clashes around the country between police and anti-U.S. protestors, news agencies said.
Two policemen were shot dead and three protestors injured in violence involving opponents of U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Assailants on a motorbike gunned the policemen down overnight. They had been stationed outside a mosque in a downtown area of Karachi as part of preventive security measures ahead of Monday's expected protests.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, has borne the brunt of the backlash against President Pervez Musharraf's decision to support U.S. air strikes.
Up to 15,000 people took part in the anti-U.S. rally in western Karachi, during which they denounced the bombing campaign in Afghanistan and burned American flags and an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Another 15,000 turned out for a protest rally in a disused cricket stadium in Quetta organized to coincide with Powell's visit.
The crowd chanted, "America must die" and shouted slogans in support of Osama bin Laden - the Saudi-born dissident blamed by the United States for last month's terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington.
And a nationwide general strike called by religious groups in protest of Powell's visit was widely followed across the country. The 15 Islamic parties, which called the strike, issued a joint statement on Friday in preparation.
"Colin Powell coming to Pakistan will add insult to injury," they said. "The nation will not tolerate him stepping onto Pakistan soil."
Many religious groups who support bin Laden believe that he was not responsible for the September 11th attacks on the U.S., and are enraged at the attacks on innocent Afghanis.
Powell is due to hold talks with Musharraf on Tuesday before leaving later in the day for discussions with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi.
Speaking to reporters on the plane, Powell said both meetings would focus on the future of Afghanistan.
"I want to hear the assessments of these two distinguished leaders and their associates, their perspective on this and any advice they have for us," he said.
The Pakistan government has voiced growing concern over the number of civilian casualties caused by the U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan and has warned against a "prolonged" military campaign.
Meanwhile, around Karachi, there were sporadic clashes between police and protestors who blocked roads and stoned vehicles. Three people were injured - two by police bullets and one by a teargas shell - according to hospital sources.
In one incident, protestors attacked a small railway station, torching furniture and burning tires on the tracks.
In the nearby city of Hyderabad, protestors torched a van belonging to the government's water authority and fired volleys of live bullets in the air to force shopkeepers and bus companies to close their businesses.
Burning tires, or demonstrators pelting vehicles with stones, blocked several roads.
Most markets in the eastern city of Lahore were closed and residents reported sporadic incidents of violence as protestors ensured the strike call was heeded.
Major markets also shut down in central Rawalpindi, where there were several anti-Powell demonstrations, and in Peshawar in the northwest.
Karachi has been the scene of repeated large and violent demonstrations against the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan's cooperation with the U.S.-led international coalition against terrorism.
Police and religious groups fought pitched battles and exchanged gunfire there on Friday.
Powell has no official appointments scheduled for Monday evening, but there has been speculation he could meet with the special envoy of former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah - currently in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders on any post-Taliban scenario in Afghanistan.
The secretary of state also stressed the need for India and Pakistan to resume their bilateral dialogue, especially on the issue of Kashmir, which has triggered two wars between the nuclear-capable South Asian rivals.
"The exercise of restraint is also very important, and avoiding some provocative actions which could lead to a conflict of any kind," he said.
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