Another leading Pakistani opposition leader has been arrested as Pakistan reels under continued emergency rule. Imran Khan was detained after making his first public appearance since President Pervez Musharraf announced he would rule by decree. Khan was the last of Musharraf’s most vocal critics not jailed or in exile. Main rival, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, declared Tuesday that Musharraf should step down. Speaking from behind barbed wire at her home in Lahore, Bhutto predicted Pakistan’s military would soon begin defying Musharraf’s orders.

Benazir Bhutto: “I’m sure as the days pass, more and more of the police force, who are after all working families, are all going to think about their nation first, rather than carrying out the illegal orders of a military — of a military regime where there is emergency and fundamental rights suspended.”

Thousands of people have been arrested in the crackdown. A Lahore resident said Musharraf’s public support is at a new low.

Lahore Resident: “This is a so-called democracy. If there is any democracy in the country, then why Benazir has been detained? She was ready to lead a rally for the restoration of democracy, but authorities detained her.”

Musharraf has defended his crackdown as the only way to fight insurgents responsible for a series of attacks. On Tuesday, he said he imposed the emergency rule to save Pakistan as a nation.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf: “I would like to ask: Is democracy more important than the country? If the country is going down and becoming a failed state, is arresting that more important or running a democratic system, so-called democratic system, more important? Which one is more important? Obviously, save the government, save the nation.”

The Bush administration has continued to support Musharraf during the crisis. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte would visit Pakistan later this week.

State Department spokesperson Tom Casey: “I think there has at least been some change in the initial positions taken by President Musharraf, though obviously not enough for us to feel comfortable that Pakistan has in fact returned to this democratic path that we want to see it move towards.”