Sunday, February 19 2006 14:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan police today (Feb 19,2006) sealed the capital Islamabad and detained top Islamic leaders after conducting a series of raids on the offices of various outfits to thwart attempts by the main Islamist alliance to take out a rally against the Prophet Mohammad cartoons.

However, the leader of the six-party Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis Alam Maulana Fazlur Rehman vowed to go ahead with the protests despite the government ban on rallies.

Rehman, who has been placed under house arrest, told private TV channels that his party activists will go ahead with the rally despite the ban.

Police also put the MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed under house arrest in Lahore early in the day, MMA leader Munawar Hasan said.

"Qazi Hussain was served a 30-day detention order this morning at the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami in Lahore," Hasan said.

Qazi Hussain described the detention order as illegal and unconstitutional and told the police that the Government will be responsible for the consequences, Hasan quoted him as saying.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said Hussain has been detained as he was determined to hold the rally in Islamabad despite the ban.

Security personnel, including the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers and Frontier Constabulary, have been deployed in Islamabad to enforce the ban on public rallies, he said.