Pakistani liberal opposition leader Benazir Bhutto claimed Thursday that police killed two of her supporters at a protest rally against emergency rule in the southern port city of Karachi at which hundreds more were carted away.

"In Karachi 300 people have been arrested. There were huge protest at (the district of) Liari and two of our boys were brutally and mercilessly killed by the police," she told the country's DawnNews channel.

"Throughout the central Punjab province and the province of Sindh there are reports of baton-charging, tear-gassing and massive arrests. In fact, everybody has been put behind bars," Bhutto added.

The two-time former prime minister has been held under house arrest since Monday in eastern city of Lahore, where she was to have led a "long march for democracy" to the capital Islamabad over the state of emergency imposed November 3 by President Pervez Musharraf.

The leaders had been engaged in power-sharing talks for several months. But in response to her detention and alleged mass brutality against her supporters, Bhutto on Tuesday vowed to unite opposition forces against Musharraf, an army who took over in a bloodless coup in 1999.

"The protests are going to go until Musharraf quits and Pakistan is returned to the people. This march is to end martial law," Bhutto said.

Formerly believed to be angling for a third term as premier in exchange for her party's support, Bhutto also ruled out the possibility of working in any capacity with Musharraf, even if removes his army uniform and become a civilian president.

Musharraf this week rejected broad opposition calls for his resignation, saying, "The day when there is no turmoil in Pakistan, I will step down."

Speaking to British media, he said parliamentary elections scheduled to take place before January 15 would still go ahead but that the emergency could continue through their completion.