Credit: Reuters/Akhtar Soomro
1 of 3. Supporters of Tahir ul-Qadri, Sufi cleric and leader of political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), carry sticks as they move towards the Prime Minister's house during the Revolution March in Islamabad August 30, 2014.
Pakistan has been gripped by unrest for more than two weeks, with protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri saying they will not back down unless Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns. On Saturday Sharif once again said he would not go.
Security forces fired tear gas at protesters on Saturday night and the opposition said a woman was killed in the clashes. Police were not immediately available for comment.
Late on Friday, up to 8,000 protesters, some armed with clubs, had gathered outside parliament, with police on standby.
Pakistan's military stepped in this week to try to defuse the unrest. Qadri said the army had offered to mediate in the stand-off.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million, has been ruled by the military for half of its entire history and has repeatedly oscillated between civilian and military rule.
Although the army's role is key to how the crisis unfolds, few believe the army is bent on seizing power again.
Nevertheless, its public intervention has demonstrated how fragile Pakistan's democracy is, more than a year after Sharif swept to office in the country's first democratic transition of power.
Sharif has displeased the army by trying to strengthen civilian rule and improve relations with India and Afghanistan, and the latest conflict has given the military an opportunity to sideline him on security and foreign policy issues.
Sharif also angered the military by putting the former army chief, Pervez Musharraf, on trial for treason. Musharraf ousted Sharif in the 1999 coup.
The army's involvement is likely to unnerve some Pakistanis but it also offers Khan and Qadri a face-saving solution to end their deadlocked protest as both are seen as close to the military.
(Reporting by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Entities 0 Name: Pakistan Count: 5 1 Name: Sharif Count: 5 2 Name: Qadri Count: 2 3 Name: Tahir ul-Qadri Count: 2 4 Name: Nawaz Sharif Count: 1 5 Name: Pervez Musharraf Count: 1 6 Name: Afghanistan Count: 1 7 Name: Islamabad Count: 1 8 Name: Khan Count: 1 9 Name: Sufi Count: 1 10 Name: India Count: 1 11 Name: Andrew Roche Count: 1 12 Name: Imran Khan Count: 1 13 Name: Musharraf Count: 1 14 Name: army Count: 1 15 Name: Maria Golovnina Count: 1 16 Name: Reuters\/Akhtar Soomro Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1wT79oL Title: Deadlock in Pakistan as Talks Stall Between Premier and His Foes Description: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan remained in a political deadlock over the weekend as negotiations stalled between the beleaguered government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his opponents, who have been demanding his resignation. Mr. Sharif said Saturday that he would not resign and called the demands to do so by his opponents "unacceptable" and "unconstitutional."
