Bhutto's husband under arrest on murder charge

The husband of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was put under house arrest today after a court ordered his detention in a murder case.

The move came just a month after he had been freed on bail.

Asif Ali Zardari was arrested at the airport near the capital Islamabad where he had been due to address a major opposition rally that could have been politically embarrassing to President General Pervez Musharraf.

Zardari’s detention will shatter hopes of a reconciliation between Bhutto’s party and Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and is currently facing criticism for reneging on a promise to stand down as army chief.

About 1,000 Bhutto party supporters clashed with police at the airport, located in the city of Rawalpindi, before Zardari’s arrival.

Police fired tear gas shells and swung batons to control the crowd that had broken windows as it tried to force its way into the VIP lounge. Several people were injured in the violence, and police took away some 30 men and 15 women away in trucks. Several of the women were dragged along the ground.

Zardari was later flown back to Karachi where he was allowed to address assembled before being confined to his high-walled bungalow, which was guarded by about two dozen armed police.

He accused the authorities of political victimisation and heavy-handed action against his supporters.

“The rulers are afraid of me. I am not going to launch any movement … I am trying to save Pakistan,” the former senator and Cabinet minister said.

“I had spoken of compromise after coming out of jail but I was arrested. I will be free again and will continue my efforts for democracy.”

Last month, in move widely seen as the result of deal with government, Zardari was released from eight years in custody after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the last of a series of corruption cases that his supporters claim are politically motivated.

But a Karachi court ordered Zardari’s re-arrest today, citing his failure to attend a trial into the 1996 murders of a former judge and his son he is accused of plotting, said Shahadat Awan, a lawyer for Zardari.

“He was released on court order and now he was been arrested on a court order,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said

Zardari, however, contended his attendance for the murder case had been unnecessary as his lawyer was in court. His lawyers were expected to challenge the ruling in the High Court.

Zardari has emerged a prominent opposition figure since his release, and has irked Musharraf by calling for fresh national elections in 2005, two years ahead of schedule. Also, his rally planned near the capital today would have come at a sensitive time.

Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism, is under fire from political opponents after declaring last week he would not stand down as army chief by the end of the year as promised a year ago.

The president said he needed to retain the uniform – the source of most of his power – to pursue his fight against Islamic militants and peace talks with India.

The general has marginalised opponents such as Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, yet the group retains the capacity to organise mass protests, particularly out of its stronghold in Karachi.

Bhutto was twice elected prime minister. Both her governments were dismissed for allegations of corruption and misrule in the first half of the 1990s. She lives in exile in Britain and the United Arab Emirates to avoid arrest in corruption cases.

Zardari, Bhutto’s former minister for investment, is accused of making money illegally while his wife was the prime minister.