Bhutto barred from chief justice's house

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was barred from visiting the nation's suspended chief justice Saturday.

The former prime minister was able to spend time with a group of journalists holding a demonstration to protest the closing of television stations. She also appeared at a reception her Pakistan Peoples Party gave for foreign diplomats, The New York Times reported.

On Friday, thousands of police officers outside Bhutto's house in Islamabad kept her from attending a rally in Rawalpindi. Police also halted the protest.

Raza Rabbani, one of Bhutto's aides, said a march from Lahore to Islamabad planned for Tuesday will go forward.

When police blocked the entrance to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's house, Bhutto briefly addressed protesters gathered outside. Chaudhry is under house arrest.

Many of the demonstrations in recent months against President Pervez Musharraf have been led by lawyers calling for an independent judiciary.