Bhutto Restraint Order Lifted

Pakistan lifted the restraint order on Benazir Bhutto's house today hours after police prevented the ex-PM from leading a rally against Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, the Guardian reports. Authorities immobilized her as part of a general ban on political assembly but said they were also acting for Bhutto's safety after a report of another possible assassination plot.

Suicide blasts last month missed Bhutto but killed 140 others. Police today fired tear gas into crowds of protesters in Rawalpindi, where Bhutto had encouraged supporters to rally despite her confinement. During Bhutto's confrontation with the police, a suspected suicide bombing at the home of the minister of political affairs killed two people; the minister was unharmed. (More Benazir Bhutto stories.)