Sunday, February 26 2006 14:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Several Islamic leaders have been detained and the leader of the hardline alliance MMA put under house arrest in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore ahead of a rally planned by opposition groups against the publication of Prophet Mohammad's cartoons in European newspapers.

Thousands of police and paramilitary forces personnel had been deployed in Lahore and were on high alert to frustrate the opposition groups' attempt to hold the rally amid a government ban on demonstrations, officials and witnesses said today(Feb 26,2006).

Several Islamic leaders, who announced to defy the ban on rallies, have been detained and their entry banned in Lahore.

Reports reaching here said that police and paramilitary forces sealed venue of the rally in Lahore and all roads leading to it were blocked and traffic diverted.

Police and paramilitary forces' personnel guarded the locality of 'Nasir Bagh' in the city centre, from where the rally is expected to start.

The Government of Punjab province had banned rallies in view of violent demonstrations in different parts of the country earlier this month.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, President of the Islamic alliance 'Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal' (MMA), was put under house arrest here for the second time in a week. He refused to sign the detention order and vowed to reach venue of the rally, senior MMA leader Liaquat Baloch said.

Police erected barbed wires and parked containers on the two exits of the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami party to stop Qazi Hussain from going out.