Lawyers for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif filed a petition in Pakistan’s Supreme Court today challenging his deportation to Saudi Arabia, setting up another confrontation between the judiciary and Pakistan’s military ruler as he battles to hold onto power.

Authorities in Pakistan were today investigating a suicide bombing that killed 16 people before a rally, the latest in a series of violent incidents since the army stormed a mosque held by Islamic extremists.

Lawyers throughout Pakistan boycotted court proceedings, clashed with riot police and burned an image of President Gen Pervez Musharraf today in a protest against the removal of the country’s top judge.

Outrage at the US has continued in Pakistan, with thousands taking to the streets chanting “Death to America” and calling for holy war over an airstrike that devastated a remote border village.