Pakistani authorities placed opposition leader Nawaz Sharif under house arrest Sunday to stop him from taking part in a major anti-government rally, a spokesman said.The move against former Prime Minister Sharif shows Pakistan's determination to squelch Monday's rally in the capital Islamabad but risks igniting anger among his supporters. It will also likely damage the democratic credentials of the one-year-old government led by U.S.-backed President Asif Ali Zardari.
his democratic cred was already at near zero so this just brings it to the nanocredential stage
The arrest order came hours after the government announced its first major concession in the month long political crisis by pledging to appeal a disputed court ruling against Sharif and his brother.
Sharif's spokesman Pervez Rasheed said hundreds of police surrounded his { Sharif's ] house Sunday in the eastern city of Lahore.