The focus of Pakistan’s opposition to President Pervez Musharraf returned to the country’s lawyers today.

Thousands of troops were deployed across Pakistan today to boost security ahead of next week’s parliamentary elections with officials denying they would be used to influence voting.

Pakistani police rearrested a prominent opposition lawyer this morning, despite promises that he would be allowed to remain free for the three-day Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, his son said.

President Pervez Musharraf lifted Pakistan’s six-week-old state of emergency and restored the constitution today.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will end the country’s emergency rule on Saturday only after changing the constitution to ensure he cannot be prosecuted for breaking it, a key aide admitted today.

Police blocked a protest march by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and hundreds of supporters today.

The opposition party of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif planned to stage a march today on the heavily guarded home of the country’s deposed chief justice.

Pakistan’s opposition called on General Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, saying elections would be a sham unless citizens’ rights were fully restored.

Police were today holding up to 1,800 opponents of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf in a ruthless crackdown following his declaration of emergency rule.

Authorities rounded up opposition activists today after President Pervez Musharraf suspended Pakistan’s constitution and declared a state of emergency.

Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf sent troops into the streets and imposed emergency rule tonight, suspending the constitution before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president.

Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto cancelled plans to travel abroad amid what she said were rumours that the government could impose a state of emergency during her absence.

Opposition legislators submitted their resignations today as part of their efforts to undercut President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid, while two of his opponents filed fresh legal challenges to his candidacy.

Two top police officials were suspended in Pakistan today over a crackdown that wounded dozens of journalists and lawyers during protests against President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts at re-election.

Hundreds of opponents of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf jailed since the weekend were ordered to be released today by the country’s chief justice.

Police manned roadblocks and rounded up supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today as he prepared to end seven years in exile and return to Pakistan to lead a campaign to topple the country’s US-allied military ruler.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can return to Pakistan from exile, the Supreme Court ruled today, in another setback for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan celebrated it’s 60th anniversary of independence from Britain today.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has repeated his opposition to the return of two exiled former prime ministers before parliamentary elections later this year.

US President George Bush today said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the US.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf today decided against declaring a state of emergency in Pakistan and will press ahead with plans to hold free and fair elections, a government minister said.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said today that she believes that a power-sharing deal with President General Pervez Musharraf could work if he ceded sufficient power to the parliament.

Senior Pakistani opposition leader Javed Hashmi was released from prison today and received a rapturous welcome from hundreds of chanting, flag-waving supporters, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail.

Self-exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will return home in October and contest national elections despite the threat of imprisonment, one of her political advisers said.

Islamabad’s Supreme Court today reinstated Pakistan’s top judge, ruling that his suspension by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was illegal.

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.

A suicide bomber killed 12 people at a rally for Pakistan’s suspended chief justice today, police said, ramping up tension in a country already reeling from a burst of violence by Islamic extremists.

A powerful bomb exploded at a rally of lawyers in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad today, killing at least two people and wounding several others, police said.

Thousands of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s opponents rallied nationwide today, the first street protests since a burst of political violence in Pakistan’s business capital deepened a crisis clouding his plans to stay in power.

Karachi and other major Pakistani cities were hit by a general strike today in protest against violence that has left 41 dead.

The political crisis surrounding Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf deepened dramatically today, when gunbattles and clashes between supporters and opponents of the military-led government left 28 people dead in Pakistan’s biggest city.

Gun battles and attacks killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens today as Pakistan’s political crisis descended into violence between rival parties over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s suspension of the chief justice.

Police have detained more than 500 activists from opposition political parties ahead of what organisers predict will be the biggest rally yet in support of Pakistan’s ousted chief justice.

Pakistani police separated supporters and opponents of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as the two sides held rival rallies in Islamabad today during a hearing on a top judge’s contentious suspension.

Two more Pakistani judges resigned today to protest against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s controversial removal of the country’s chief justice.

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.