Benazir's husband detained

Pakistani police yesterday detained former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's husband at the airport as he flew in from Dubai to launch a political movement for democracy, witnesses and his party said.

A squad of elite police commandos barged into a private jet as it landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport in the eastern city of Lahore at dawn carrying Asif Ali Zardari, his political aides and media representatives.

Outside the airport, baton-wielding police attacked dozens of Pakistan Peoples Party workers who had defied a tough crackdown and managed to sneak in through a chain of pickets close to the airfield, witnesses said.

Zardari was whisked away in a heavily guarded police van to his Bilawal house residence located near the airport where he was put under virtual house arrest, the party said.

Some 30 prominent Pakistan Peoples Party leaders including federal and provincial lawmakers were arrested when they tried to reach Bilawal's house to meet Zardari, party spokesman Naveed Chaudhry told AFP.