ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP):

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf picked up another legal victory yester-day in his re-election bid while again steamrolling dissent by cracking down hard on protesters.

A day after the Supreme Court dismissed several petitions challenging Musharraf's pursuit of a new five-year term, the Election Commission approved his candidacy, sparking angry condemnation from protesting lawyers.

Police fired tear gas and used batons, first to disperse the lawyers, then turned on journalists covering the chaotic clashes.

Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim was also caught up in the melee, receiving a few punches from protesters before being bundled into a car by aides and driven away.

More legal manoeuvres are expected from the opposition - a request for the Supreme Court to review its decision and a planned mass resignation from Parliament - but the general appears to have cleared the biggest hurdles to contesting the October 6 vote by federal and provincial lawmakers.

SET TO WIN

Despite dwindling popularity and increasingly bitter opposition, Musharraf, a close United States ally, also seems set to win the election. The ruling coalition says it has the numbers it needs, and even the general's main challenger, retired Judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, has admitted he does not have much of a chance.

The Election Commission approved only six of the 43 candidates, including Ahmed, who was nominated by lawyers, and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice-chairman of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. Fahim's party earlier said he would only run if Musharraf were disqualified.

QUIT PARLIAMENT

The opposition alliance has said its lawmakers would quit Parliament on Tuesday to protest the general's candidacy, a move also aimed at depriving the election of legitimacy.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has pledged to give up his powerful post as army chief if he wins the election and restore civilian rule in a country that has lurched between unstable elected governments and military regimes during its 60-year history.

But he has faced growing opposition since his failed attempt to oust Pakistan's top judge in March. He is also struggling to contain growing Islamic militancy and growing public sentiment that his alliance with Washington has fanned extremism.