[Excerpt: Zardari was released from jail in November despite charges ranging from corruption to murder that are still pending. That raised speculation Musharraf was trying to improve relations, but authorities then blocked his attempts to rally supporters.....In a similar incident in December, police boarded an airliner that had brought Zardari to Islamabad, detained him and flew him back to Karachi to prevent him addressing rallies.]
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5691467&cKey=1113659441000 April 16, 2005 3:50 PM Pakistan Police Detain Zardari, Say Not Arrested By Mian Khursheed LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Police detained the husband of Pakistan opposition-leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto on Saturday and held him for several hours to prevent a rally, dimming hopes for political reconciliation in the country. Police in the eastern city of Lahore boarded an Aero Asiaplane that brought Asif Ali Zardari back to Pakistan from avisit to his wife in Dubai and placed him under temporary" protective custody" at his house. Police had erected barricades around the residence in a posh Lahore neighborhood and Zardari said he was not allowed to leave the house, which was guarded by hundreds of officers. The police guard and the barricades were later withdrawn. Zardari, who was released on bail from eight years' jail late last year, was returning to Pakistan for the first time since traveling to visit his wife in Dubai in December. Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, chief minister of the central province of Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, said Zardari was free but would not be allowed to stage political rallies. "He can come out and go anywhere but he can't hold a rally," adding that detained workers for Bhutto's PakistanPeoples Party (PPP) would also be released soon. Zardari said about 70,000 PPP supporters had been detained to prevent them welcoming him. He said he would not be deterred from staging rallies. "If I can't do it today, I will do tomorrow," he said. Hundreds of police blocked roads to the airport to stop Bhutto supporters gathering there and used batons to disperse about 50, including women, who managed to evade the cordon. "BIG BLOW TO RECONCILIATION" Among those detained with Zardari were Makhdoom Amin Fahim,leader of the PPP's parliamentary wing, and its former Foreign Minister Sardar Asseff Ahmed Ali. The government of military ruler President Pervez Musharraf refused permission for the PPP rally in Lahore and extended a temporary ban on gatherings of more than three people. Zardari said the government's crackdown was a setback to efforts toward a rapprochement between Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, and Bhutto, prime minister for two terms in the 1980s and 1990s. "Today's exercise was a big blow to the reconciliation." Bhutto has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 for fear of arrest on corruption charges and Musharraf has in the past said she would not be allowed to return to politics. Apparently seeking to bolster his power base and respond to Western critics pushing him to lift curbs on democracy, Musharraf had appeared to soften his position toward her in recent months. Zardari was released from jail in November despite charges ranging from corruption to murder that are still pending. That raised speculation Musharraf was trying to improve relations, but authorities then blocked his attempts to rally supporters. In a similar incident in December, police boarded an airliner that had brought Zardari to Islamabad, detained him and flew him back to Karachi to prevent him addressing rallies. (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider in ISLAMABAD) Reuters enditem ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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