Riot police fired tear gas and used batons on protesting lawyers Saturday as Pakistan's Election Commission approved President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's candidacy for re-election. A day after the Supreme Court quashed several legal challenges to Musharraf's bid for a new five-year term, the Election Commission gave its nod of approval, said Kanwar Dilshad, a top commission official. «Yes, President Musharraf's nomination papers have been approved,» Dilshad said. «He's eligible to run.» The commission approved only six of the 43 candidates, including Musharraf's two main challengers: Wajihuddin Ahmed, a retired judge nominated by lawyers, and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice chairman of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, the Associated Press reported. Musharraf was nominated Thursday by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and 16 other allies. Shortly after they arrived at the commission to respond to the objections, about 200 lawyers _ who earlier burned copies of the court ruling _ tried to approach from the nearby Supreme Court building. Scenes of chaos ensued on barricaded Constitution Avenue, with security forces and protesters pelting each other with rocks. Police fired tear gas shells and beat the protesters, with at least one officer using a tree branch. At least two lawyers suffered head injuries.
