Imran Khan joined Benazir Bhutto and thousands of political activists and lawyers already in detention in Pakistan yesterday, leaving the religious right as the only political force at liberty in the country. General Pervez Musharraf's regime has not moved against the mullahs, who have always been close to the army.

Separately, Pakistan's two biggest parties, Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by exiled Nawaz Sharif, moved closer to forming an alliance. A united front between these two parties, so far elusive because of Ms. Bhutto's negotiations with Gen. Musharraf, would seriously threaten the government and its election plans.

"We are ready to set aside our differences with the People's Party and work for the return of democratic rule," Mr. Sharif said from forced exile in Saudi Arabia.

Gen. Musharraf pledged yesterday to shed his uniform by the end of the month. It was the first time since declaring a state of emergency in Pakistan that he had put a time limit on remaining army chief. But he made clear that he would continue as President and would maintain the state of emergency, imposed on Nov. 3, throughout campaigning for a parliamentary election now set for early January.