The Pakistan government on Tuesday placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for the second time in less than a week to prevent her from leading a long march from Karachi to Islamabad against the emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.
Leaders of her Pakistan People's Party said Bhutto will go ahead with the nearly 300-km march despite the siege by hundreds of policemen who surrounded the home of party leader Latif Khosa, where the former premier is staying, and the arrest of hundreds of supporters in overnight swoops by the police across Punjab province.
Though Bhutto, 54, was allowed to move around with a strong police escort in Lahore on Monday, about 600 policemen were deployed around Khosa's home in the posh Defence housing scheme after midnight. They set up a series of barricades while snipers were positioned on nearby rooftops.
Top Lahore city police official Aftab Cheema delivered a seven-day detention order for Bhutto but PPP leaders refused to accept it.
Cheema told reporters at the scene that the order had been shown to Bhutto's aide Naheed Khan and pasted on the door of the house.
Prison staff was also called in to detain Bhutto if necessary.
"The long march has definitely been banned and we will not permit it. The use of force will be avoided but the law will take its course," Cheema told Dawn News channel.
In Islamabad, Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said Bhutto would not be allowed to go ahead with the march as it would violate emergency regulations barring all political rallies. He also said the step had been taken for Bhutto's security.
The home department of Punjab province, which issued the detention order, said there were intelligence reports that suicide bombers had entered Lahore with the intention of targeting Bhutto, who survived a suicide attack on her homecoming procession on October 18 that killed nearly 140 people, hours after she returned for an eight-year self exile.
The government had cited similar security threats to detain the two-time former premier in her home in Islamabad on November 9 to prevent her from going to nearby Rawalpindi to lead a rally against the emergency.
Hundreds of PPP workers were also arrested in overnight swoops by police across Punjab province, especially at places where Bhutto had planned to address rallies during the long march.
Ironically, Bhutto's detention in Lahore came 39 years to the day after her father, late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was arrested on charges of inciting student protests against the government of then President Mohammed Ayub Khan.
Bhutto on Monday had ruled out further talks with Musharraf on a possible power-sharing arrangement while the government said she would not be allowed to have a third term as prime ministerial. She also said boycotting the general election to be held in January was an option for the PPP.
The three-day march was aimed at pressuring Musharraf to end the emergency and give up the post of army chief by November 15.
