Bhutto under house arrest on day of rally

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest today ahead of a major protest, a security official said.

Police backed by armoured vehicles surrounded her Islamabad home.

The move against Bhutto came amid a broader crackdown on her supporters, who were planning to rally near Islamabad against President General Pervez Musharraf’s emergency rule.

Bhutto’s party said some 5,000 of its supporters have been rounded up in the last three days, and riot police were out in force in nearby Rawalpindi, the city where today’s rally was to take place.