President Pervez Musharraf yesterday called for harmony in the southern city of Karachi after more than 40 people were killed in some of Pakistan’s worst political violence.

Musharraf visited the volatile port city of 12 million people in what officials said was a bid to ease ethnic and political tensions that are still simmering after almost two weeks.

The president said the opposition was exploiting the judicial crisis to make political gains.

President Pervez Musharraf yesterday called for harmony in the southern city of Karachi after more than 40 people were killed in some of Pakistan’s worst political violence.

Musharraf visited the volatile port city of 12 million people in what officials said was a bid to ease ethnic and political tensions that are still simmering after almost two weeks.

The president said the opposition was exploiting the judicial crisis to make political gains.

He said that presence of weapons is a problem. “We want to disarm those having illegal weapons. Some people surrendered arms earlier on the government’s call but the miscreants didn’t hand over their weapons. Now the government will devise a plan to recover all illegal arms,” he said.

He said the people are satisfied with the government’s policies and they want development. The government will continue to resolve the problems of the people, he added.

He announced Rs.600,000 compensation for each person killed in the May 12 incidents and Rs.1,00,000 for every person injured on that day.

Clashes erupted there on May 12 after the country’s chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was stopped from holding a rally against his suspension by Musharraf in early March.

“Everyone should make sure that such things do not recur in future and peace and harmony is maintained here,” Musharraf said after meeting with top law and order officials and residents from a cross-section of society.

“Now it is the responsibility of everyone living here to sustain the restored normalcy and maintain peace,” he was quoted as saying by the official Associated Press of Pakistan.

People at the meetings “gave suggestions for bringing normalcy in the city, but assured the president of their cooperation,” Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told AFP.

Musharraf is expected to stay in Karachi until tomorrow.

The violence began between opposition activists and supporters of the city’s governing party, but escalated into street battles between people whose families fled India after partition in 1947 and Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan.

After inter-communal talks earlier this week, Pashtun leaders in the sprawling metropolis postponed a three-day strike that was due to start yesterday.

However, there were fresh protests against Musharraf’s regime in several cities in central Punjab province on Thursday.

Chaudhry, who has become a figurehead for opposition to the president, is due to address lawyers at the Supreme Court in Islamabad today.

Musharraf’s opponents say he wants to weaken the courts ahead of possible legal challenges to his bid to remain army chief past the constitutional time limit of the end of the year.

Musharraf says Chaudhry was suspended for misconduct and insists he acted constitutionally.