ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Police fired tear gas and clubbed thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. Opposition groups put the number of arrests at 3,500, although the government reported half that.

Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan’s army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his recent re-election as president was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, put a stranglehold on independent media and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.

The attorney general called yesterday for the polls to be held on time, but Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left open the possibility for a delay.

Under intense pressure from the United States and other Western allies to hold elections as scheduled in January, Musharraf said yesterday he would relinquish control of the military and return the country to “the same track as we were moving” but he gave no indication when the vote would take place.

“I am determined to remove my uniform once we correct these pillars – the judiciary, the executive, and the parliament,” Musharraf said.