Dhaka Strike Leaders Confined

DHAKA, Bangladesh —  Police placed opposition leaders Khaleda Zia and Sheik Hasina under house arrest today. The women were organizers of the general strikes and street rallies against President Hussain Mohammed Ershad that began Tuesday.

In central Dhaka, thousands of protesters fought running battles with police who fired tear gas and charged with batons. Police detained 73, bringing arrests since the opposition campaign was launched two weeks ago to an official 1,456. Elsewhere in the capital, a handful of rioters started a fire that gutted the U.S. Information Service cultural center, which was empty at the time.