Pakistani police have detained a dozen supporters of ex-premier Ms Benazir Bhutto outside a courthouse where two tribunals are to rule later today on appeals against her disqualification from October polls.
Hundreds of police and scores of Bhutto supporters from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have gathered outside the Sindh High Court building in downtown Karachi.
Police have barred PPP activists from entering the courtroom. They detained 12 women activists as they tried to enter the building and pushed female police.
Ms Bhutto, twice prime minister between 1988 and 1996, had submitted applications to contest three separate seats in the parliamentary elections, but all three were rejected by the Election Commission last month.
The rejections sparked countrywide protests by PPP followers, and hundreds of them were detained.
Ms Bhutto's bids were rejected on the grounds of two absonding convictions, awarded when she failed to return from overseas for corruption trials in May and July.
Tribunals set up to hear appeals against such decisions must deliver their final rulings today. A final list of approved candidates is due to be published on Sunday.
AFP