The government placed former premier Benazir Bhutto under a brief house arrest early on Friday, and rounded up several of her supporters to block a mass protest against the imposition of emergency rule by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. The house arrest orders for the former premier were later withdrawn on Friday night.Earlier in the day, Benazir twice tried to leave in her car for the protest venue – Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi – telling police: “Do not raise hands on women. You are Muslims. This is un-Islamic”, AP reported. However, Benazir and leaders of her PPP could only reach the corner of the street where a large media corps was present to cover the event.
No notice: Talking to the media, Benazir said the government had restricted her movement without serving any notice of house arrest. Her statement negated a government claim that a three-day detention notice was served on her by City Magistrate Rana Akbar Hayat, but she refused to receive it. Benazir said that PPP workers tried to reach Liaquat Bagh, but failed due to the roadblocks.
She rejected MusharrafÂ’s announcement that the elections would be held before February 15 and demanded that the elections be held by January 15 as required by the Constitution. She also repeated her demand that Gen Musharraf step down from his military position. Strict security measures were taken in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to stop the PPP from holding a rally in defiance of a ban on public gatherings. There were repeated clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police.