ISLAMABAD: A senior official of the Pakistani Supreme Court was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen early Monday, following political clashes in Karachi on Sunday that claimed 39 lives.

Syed Hammad Raza, a registrar of the Supreme Court, was killed at about 4:30 a.m. local time at his home here in the capital. Raza was close to Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, chief justice of the Supreme Court, who was removed from the bench in March by General Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, touching off protests and political violence.

Shops were closed and public transportation was shut down in Karachi on Monday after opposition parties called a general strike and the authorities responded by banning demonstrations in the city and declaring a public holiday, Reuters reported.

After the clashes in Karachi on Sunday, analysts said the violence - and accusations that the government had done little to stop the killings - had put renewed pressure on Musharraf.

News reports said government troops in Karachi had taken no action to separate armed pro-government groups and opposition groups that were shooting at each another. Dawn, an English-language newspaper in Karachi, said that troops "suddenly disappeared from the troubled spots." The government has not responded to those claims.

The unrest eased Sunday as paramilitaries patrolled Karachi, the country's financial hub, and as provincial leaders banned public gatherings. But three more people died in sporadic clashes, according to hospital personnel.

The violent clashes were set off Saturday by the arrival of Chaudhry, the suspended Supreme Court chief justice, who had come to address lawyers of the provincial bar association. As a justice, Chaudhry was known for his willingness to take on the government. His suspension set off mostly peaceful protests by lawyers who accused the government of attacking judicial independence. The president accused the justice of misuse of power and nepotism, charges Chaudhry denies.

Chaudhry visited Raza's home Monday to console his widow and family, according to Reuters.

"You called him to Islamabad - you should have protected him, and now my children need protection as well," Raza's widow, Shabana, told Chaudhry, according to Reuters.

Pakistani police officials said that Raza's death could have resulted from a robbery, but relatives and lawyers of the suspended justice disputed that.

"It was targeted killing" said Munir Malik, an aide to the chief justice. "He was shot near the temple." Malik said that Raza was close to the suspended justice and had been brought to Islamabad from Quetta by Chaudhry around a year and a half ago. Malik added that after Chaudhry was suspended, Raza "was asked to provide evidence against the justice, but he refused."

Analysts said Sunday that the violence in Karachi had significantly worsened the political crisis caused by the justice's suspension and had further weakened Musharraf.

"I think he has completely ruined himself," said Rasul Baksh Rais, head of the department of social sciences at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

"The scenes were brutally contrasting. Young men were dying, collapsing before cameras in Karachi while people were dancing on the beat of drums in front of the national Parliament," Rais said, referring to a state-managed rally arranged by political allies of Musharraf in Islamabad on Saturday evening.

An editorial Sunday in The Daily Times, a leading newspaper in Lahore, said, "The question now is: what course of action is General Musharraf planning to take?"

"The possibility of any compromise to correct the original mistake" of removing Chaudhry "has vanished now," the paper said, adding that "the ante has been upped by the government."

Karachi has a history of extreme urban violence, including during election campaigns. The clashes Saturday were between opposition political parties and armed groups of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a political party that controls Karachi and is allied with Musharraf.