ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Police blocked former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto from leaving her home as she pleaded to be released from house arrest to lead a rally against President Pervez Musharraf.
Bhutto begged officers stationed around her compound to let her get to the planned demonstration in nearby Rawalpindi against Musharraf's nationwide state of emergency, but police served her with a house arrest order instead.
"I am your sister fighting for democracy," she told police through a megaphone as she tried to get through a wall of barbed wire.
Speaking with AFP by telephone from inside her bullet-proof car, she said: "I am not afraid of these tactics. My struggle is for the people of Pakistan, for their rights and for an end to dictatorship."
Police later allowed her car through one cordon but it was then blocked by armoured personnel carriers.
The stand-off raised the stakes in the crisis which has engulfed the nuclear-armed country, leaving military ruler Musharraf facing the most serious challenge to his rule since he seized power in a coup eight years ago.
Tensions rose further when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the house of a minister and key Musharraf ally in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing four people.
Bhutto had intended to lead a demonstration against key US ally Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency last Saturday citing Islamic militancy and a hostile judiciary -- a move which earned him international criticism.
Police confirmed that Bhutto had been served with a house arrest order as soon as she tried to leave her residence in a leafy area of Islamabad.
"Because of the serious security threat the government has served her with a restraint order," Islamabad police chief Shahid Nadeem Baluch told AFP. Sources said it was formally for 30 days but would likely be dropped later Friday.
Police arrested around 100 workers from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) outside her home.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, a close Musharraf ally, told AFP: "She is restrained from leaving her house. The decision was conveyed to her because of the very serious and credible security threat of an attack on her."
A senior PPP leader, senator Anwar Baig, said outside the compound: "This is illegal confinement. This is illegal detention of a democratic leader."
Police meanwhile teargassed workers from Bhutto's party in Rawalpindi, Peshawar and the northwestern town of Swabi, officials said.
Despite weeks of speculation about a power-sharing arrangement between them, Bhutto on Wednesday called for mass demonstrations against Musharraf over his decision last Saturday to declare a nationwide state of emergency.
Political gatherings were banned, the constitution was suspended, the chief justice -- a longtime Musharraf nemesis -- was sacked, and harsh curbs imposed on the media.
Elections due in January have also been pushed back and will be held by mid-February, Musharraf said Thursday.
The government also deployed 6,000 police officers to stop the protest in Rawalpindi, completely cordoning off a park in the garrison city where it was due to be held with barbed wire and concrete blocks.
"Under no circumstances will the rally be allowed. The law will take its course against anyone who defies it," Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz told AFP, adding that several arrests were made in the city.
Police warned that up to eight suicide bombers have infiltrated Rawalpindi, raising the spectre of a repeat of the double suicide blast that killed 139 people at her homecoming parade in Karachi on October 18.
In Peshawar, federal minister for political affairs Amir Muqam -- who once received a pistol from Musharraf as a gift for his loyalty -- told state television that he was unharmed in the suicide attack on his home.
As Pakistan continued to crack down on dissent, BBC and CNN went off air again on Friday after they reported that Bhutto was under house arrest. It was less than a day after they had reappeared on screens.
Local cable news channels remained blacked out.
Bhutto's party had so far stayed off the streets, but she turned on Musharraf this week, vowing to press on with Friday's protest and to hold a "long march" from Lahore to Islamabad on November 13 if he does not meet her demands.
Britain and Germany on Friday expressed concern and called for Bhutto's release.
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