Agency

Lahore, Nov 14: Pakistan opposition politician and former cricketer Imran Khan has been arrested following a standoff at a university in Lahore.

Khan was taken into police custody after being detained by members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party at the University of Punjab where he was due to address a student protest meeting.

Some 2,000 student supporters, many wearing black armbands, had shouted anti-government slogans as riot police waited outside.

Khan is the third leader detained or exiled since President Pervez Musharraf introduced emergency rule.

Meanwhile, a senior official has said that Benazir Bhutto will remain under house arrest for at least another day.

Authorities placed the former prime minister Bhutto under house arrest yeserday for the second time in a week, and a senior federal government official that she was grounded until at tomorrow at the earliest.

Bhutto's call, which could see Pakistan's two main opposition parties joining, raised a new threat for Musharraf, a key US ally who faces growing pressure at home and abroad to end emergency rule and restore democracy.

It further complicated matters for Washington, which has criticized Musharraf's recent crackdown on dissent but sees him as a dependable partner against al-Qaeda.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is expected to visit Pakistan on Friday to underscore US concerns about the situation, where rallies have been banned and independent TV news blacked out.