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Islamabad In Lockdown For Bush Visit

President Bush arrived in Pakistan amid tight security late Friday on the final leg of a South Asian tour.

President George Bush and his Pakistani counterpart were set to discuss this Muslim nation's role in the U.S.-led war on terror Saturday, during a high-profile, high-security visit.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf formally welcomed Mr. Bush on Saturday morning at his official residence in Islamabad, where the U.S. leader inspected an honor guard in the forecourt before walking inside for talks.

Arriving from neighboring India, Mr. Bush landed at an airbase in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Air Force One landed after dark, with its lights off and window shades pulled down to conceal the plane. Other precautions included setting both a helicopter and a motorcade off from the airport; reporters are still unclear which one transported Mr. Bush. Reporters had already been misinformed that it would be a Saturday landing, CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

The security precautions underscored the very real, continuing terrorist threat in this poor, conservative Muslim country where an American diplomat was killed one day earlier in a bomb attack.

In anticipation of violenc, Pakistani police detained Imran Khan, the leader of a small opposition party, at his Islamabad home ahead of a planned protest Saturday against Mr. Bush's visit, and rounded up dozens of party supporters, his spokesman said.

The two-day visit is a public show of solidarity for Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has had to survive repeated assassination attempts made, in part, because of his support for the U.S.-led war on terror.

Crowds in several Pakistani cities greeted Mr. Bush's visit with burning U.S. flags and chants of "Death to Bush." A top Interior Ministry official said "foolproof arrangements" guaranteed Mr. Bush's safety.

In Karachi, police broke up a demonstration with tear gas after crowds yelled "go back, Bush" while burning an effigy, Axelrod reports.

"I will meet with President Musharraf to discuss Pakistan's vital cooperation in the war on terror and our efforts to foster economic and political development so that we can reduce the appeal of radical Islam," Mr. Bush said shortly before taking off for Pakistan. "I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor for India and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world."

Later, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that Mr. Bush meant to say Pakistan would be a force for freedom and moderation in the Muslim world. Pakistan is not an Arab country.

Though Pakistan is a key U.S. partner in routing out terrorists, Osama bin Laden is believed to be still hiding along the porous and mountainous border with Afghanistan. On Thursday, a suicide car bomber killed a U.S. diplomat and three others in a strike near the U.S. consulate in the southern port city of Karachi, a hotbed of Islamic militancy.

Pakistan's government promised ironclad security for Mr. Bush's visit, with one official saying hundreds of army commandos and paramilitary troops would be patrolling the capital.

Islamabad is in a state of lockdown, with checkpoints on every road leading into the capital. But most roads are deserted.

"We have made foolproof arrangements for the safe stay of President Bush, and we do not think there will be any problem," said Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior Interior Ministry official who also coordinates with U.S. authorities on counterterrorism issues.

Despite the attack, security and terrorism expert Neil Livingstone says it's safe for the president to be in Pakistan as long as the right precautions are taken.

"It is safe being in a very dangerous country but the keys are speed and unpredictability," Livingstone told CBS News' The Early Show. "He's going to go into Islamabad for a very short period of time. It's going to be unpredictable. When Clinton went there six years ago there were so many vehicles in the convoy, nobody knew where the president was at all. It was like a show game. They'll do the same thing for President Bush on this."

Mr. Bush has promised to raise with Musharraf the need to do more to hunt down al Qaeda members. He also will talk about the need for additional democratic reforms. Musharraf seized power seven years ago in a bloodless coup and has reneged on his promise to relinquish his military post.

But a public show of solidarity for the Pakistani leader, who has survived repeated assassination attempts in part because of his support for the U.S. war on terror, was likely to take center stage in the two leaders' meetings.

Another key goal of the Pakistan stop is to boost the United States' image among Muslims by showcasing American contributions after a devastating earthquake in Pakistan in October.

In Rawalpindi, near where Mr. Bush's plane landed Friday evening, about 1,000 demonstrators had earlier trampled the American flag and chanted "killer go back" and "death to America." Police dispersed them with swinging batons.

Demonstrators also were prevalent in India, where Mr. Bush left after a landmark nuclear deal that is the centerpiece of America's new romance with this 1 billion-strong democracy, the world's largest.

In a speech Friday in New Delhi, Mr. Bush said Americans should not respond to this nation's exploding economy by closing itself off to global trade.

"The United States will not give into the protectionists and lose these opportunities," Mr. Bush said in a speech at Purana Qila, a historic fort. "For the sake of workers in both our countries, America will trade with confidence."

Mr. Bush told a crowd if several hundred people from a brightly lit stage that he's been "dazzled" by India.

"The United States and India, separated by half the globe, are closer than ever before, and the partnership between our free nations has the power to transform the world," he said.

As for the arrest of Khan, a former Pakistan cricket captain, the protest leader was leaving a friend's home after dinner at around 1 a.m. (2000 GMT Friday) when he was served with a detention order, said Akbar S. Babar, a spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or Movement for Justice party.

Khan was driven in a convoy of four police vehicles to his home on the banks of a lake near the Pakistani capital, he said.

An official at the local police station said at least 10 police were posted outside Khan's home but he could not confirm his house arrest. The official declined to be named as he wasn't authorized to speak to media.

Earlier this week, Khan had announced he would lead a rally against Bush, marching to Islamabad from the neighboring city of Rawalpindi. He declared that the U.S. leader was "a symbol of repression whose policies have led to violation of human rights on a massive scale." He also criticized Mr. Bush's "support for dictatorship in Pakistan," a reference to Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

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