Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was not allowed
to leave her house in the capital of Islamabad Friday to lead a
rally against the state of emergency, according to local press
reports.
Former Pakistani Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto speaks during a news conference at the
party secretariat in Islamabad Nov. 7, 2007.
Supporters of Bhutto, chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party
(PPP), planned to hold a rally in Rawalpindi, a city some 30kms
south from Islamabad, against the state of emergency imposed last
Saturday by President General Pervez Musharraf.
PPP officials said that police had cordoned off Bhutto's
residence in Islamabad, but denied speculations that she has been
placed under house arrest ahead of the protest rally.
A government official was quoted as saying that the police
cordon was to protect the former prime minister.
The Pakistani government has deployed 6,000 police officers in
Rawalpindi to prevent the rally.
Police Friday completely sealed off the venue for the protest in
the garrison city adjacent to Islamabad.
Political gatherings have been banned under the emergency
decree.
Saud Aziz, the Rawalpindi police chief, said that "under no
circumstances" will the rally be allowed.
"The law will take its course against anyone who defies it," he
said. PPP claimed that police had arrested 5,000 of its supporters
since Wednesday to head off the major rally.
(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2007)
