Police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse small groups of demonstrators in Pakistan's capital today, despite sealing the city to stop Islamists protesting against cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The federal government imposed a ban on the Islamabad march yesterday after similar protests in the country led to violence in which at least five people have been killed in the past week.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six Islamist parties, had said its followers would defy the ban.
And police this morning put MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed under house arrest in Lahore before he could travel to Islamabad to lead the march.
Another senior MMA leader and a group of around 30 followers, including parliamentarians, assembled at one of the main entry points to Islamabad, but were forced to abandon their march after police fired tear gas.
Police used tear gas elsewhere in the city, where other small groups had come out onto the streets in defiance of the ban. Some protesters retaliated by throwing stones, and police fired warning shots to disperse them.
The authorities' determination to stop protests in the capital came as President Pervez Musharraf left for a five-day official visit to China.
Pakistan has issued diplomatic protests over the cartoons published in several, mainly European newspapers, and on Friday recalled its ambassador from Denmark, where the cartoons first appeared.
Meanwhile, Denmark said today that its ambassador in Pakistan had temporarily returned home because he could not work after violent protests over the cartoons .
The Foreign Ministry said that Danes in Pakistan who need help should apply to the German embassy.
"The Danish ambassador in Pakistan, Bent Wigotski, has returned temporarily to Denmark because it is practically impossible for him to do his job under the current circumstances," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.