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Bhutto rules out negotiations with Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf - Imposed state of emergency in Pakistan
Pervez Musharraf - Imposed state of emergency in Pakistan

Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said she will not meet or negotiate with President Pervez Musharraf, after the military ruler invoked emergency rule at the weekend.

She was speaking at Karachi airport before boarding a flight to Islamabad where she was going for a meeting of the opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy.

Ms Bhutto, leader of the largest opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples' Party, said she still intended to address a public meeting in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad on 9 November.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's government has continued its crackdown on pro-democracy activists following further protests.

Police rounded up more than 100 people demonstrating after President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule on Saturday.

Around 50 lawyers were arrested in the eastern city of Lahore as they tried to assemble on the premises of the provincial high court.

Police took over the bar room at the Lahore high court bar association and anyone entering the premises was taken away.

A Lahore police official said the administration had imposed a ban on gatherings of more than five people.

About 50 others were arrested in various cities across Pakistan, including the central city of Multan and the southern city of Quetta.

Police sources say around 1,500 opposition workers, lawyers and civil society members have been detained in the crackdown launched after Mr Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule on Saturday.