A man responds after being blocked from entering the protest site in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, today. More Photos >
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 9 — In a huge show of force, the Pakistani government stopped a protest rally by the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, before it started today, blanketing the rally site with thousands of police, blocking roads to stop demonstrators, and barricading Ms. Bhutto inside her residence in Islamabad.
Multimedia
Benazir Bhutto, center, and her supporters behind the barricades surrounding her house in Islamabad today. More Photos »
In Rawalpindi, the garrison town close to Islamabad, the capital, where the rally had been due to take place, double lines of police and police vans prevented most of the thousands of demonstrators from entering the city to protest against the emergency rule declared in the country by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, six days ago. Thousands of party workers had already been arrested over the past few days, party officials said.
At Ms. Bhutto’s residence, lines of police, barbed wire and concrete barricades made Ms. Bhutto a virtual hostage. Amid chaotic scenes, an attempt by Ms. Bhutto to leave in a white four-wheel drive car was thwarted by the police as they moved an armored personnel car and a police bus to block her way.
But late in the afternoon, in what appeared to be a carefully stage-managed move agreed with the government, Ms. Bhutto emerged from her house and made a speech that was broadcast on official Pakistani television.
No comments:
Post a Comment