Pakistan's supreme court will hear arguments Monday challenging President's Pervez Musharraf's bid to stay in power five more years. 

General Musharraf has called for an April 30 referendum on the question. 

Pakistan's opposition Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami party is challenging the constitutionality of the referendum, calling General Mushsrraf's presidency illegal. 

Sunday, Pakistani police briefly detained Jamaat-e-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed who tried to lead an anti-Musharraf protest caravan spanning 300 kilometers from Lahore to Rawalpindi. 

Police arrested him just after he made a speech denouncing General Musharraf. 

Mr. Musharraf has barred even his own supporters from holding open-air rallies and public demonstrations leading up to the referendum. General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless 1999 military coup and declared himself president last year. 

He says he needs to stay in power to continue political reform and fight terrorism, and calls the country's previous civilian governments corrupt. The general has promised to heed a supreme court order to restore democracy to Pakistan by the end of the year through parliamentary elections. 

But Pakistan's constitution says parliament and four provincial assemblies must elect the president. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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