Pakistan referendum critic arrested

Posters urging support for Musharraf's campaign

The leader of Pakistan's biggest religious party has been arrested in a move to prevent a march against President Pervez Musharraf's referendum on extending his rule.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad of the Jamaat-i-Islami party was detained as he left his headquarters in the city of Lahore.

He told supporters the arrest was a "defeat for Musharraf".

The Supreme Court is due to start deliberating on Monday on whether the referendum is legal under the constitution, which has been suspended since General Musharraf took power in a coup two-and-a-half years ago.

The referendum, due to be held on 30 April, will decide whether President Musharraf can stay in office for another five years.

Urging calm

Mr Ahmad was planning to lead a march from Lahore to the city of Rawalpindi.

It would have been the first such public protest against General Musharraf's controversial referendum which has united religious parties and the country's main political parties.

Ahmad: Referendum is farcical

Mr Ahmad urged calm on his party workers.

"I appeal to you to please disperse peacefully because we are not in confrontation with the police," the AFP news agency reports him as saying.

"Our struggle is against those who have usurped power."

An order from the government of Punjab province said he would be held for seven days under the Maintenance of Public Order Act.

The order was issued on Saturday night.

President Musharraf is holding a number of rallies around the country to garner support for extending his rule.

But the opposition is only being allowed to hold one rally, in Lahore, a few days before the poll.

The opposition is boycotting the referendum which Mr Ahmad recently denounced as farcical.

This is not his first brush with the authorities.

Musharraf says the referendum will ensure stability

He was released from four months detention in February after criticising the government's support for the United States in its war in Afghanistan.

He still faces charges of sedition in that case.

Under the constitution, Pakistan's president should be elected by the national and provincial assemblies and the senate.

But General Musharraf says the constitution allows a referendum to be held on matters of national importance.