US hikes pressure on Pakistan after Bhutto detained

Pakistan quickly ended house arrest for opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as President Gen. Pervez Musharraf came under new US pressure to end a crackdown that Washington fears is hurting the fight against Islamic extremism. Earlier on Friday, police threw up barbed wire around Bhutto's house to keep her from speaking at a rally to protest Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule, and security forces rounded up thousands of her supporters to block any mass demonstrations. The action was a new blow to hopes the two US-friendly leaders could form an alliance against militants - a rising threat underlined by a suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan that targeted the home of a Cabinet minister, who escaped without injury.