Pakistani authorities began releasing some of the thousands of opposition supporters detained since emergency rule was imposed earlier this month, officials said today.

Pakistan’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf promised that elections would be held on schedule before January 9th, in a press conference today.

Pakistan released opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest and said it will lift a state of emergency within a month.

Pakistan will lift its state of emergency within one month, a senior government official said today.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government called a meeting today to discuss a timetable for parliamentary elections.

BENAZIR BHUTTO’S return to Pakistan yesterday was marred by a bomb attack in which up to 125 people, including 20 police officers, are reported to have been killed.

Osama bin Laden’s call for Pakistanis to rise up against their US-allied military leader struck a chord among an angry, extremist minority on Friday, but resonated little among the wider public and was dismissed by the government as “ridiculous.”

Pakistan today dismissed Osama bin Laden as a terrorist whose “ridiculous” call for holy war against its US-allied leader will find little echo, despite growing concern that al-Qaida is regrouping near the Afghan border.

Islamists chanting slogans against Pakistan’s military leader rallied outside the Supreme Court today as judges heard petitions challenging President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s right to contest presidential elections set for October 6.

The presidential election in which Pakistan’s military leader is expected to seek a new five-year term in office will be held on October 6, an Election Commission official said.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf will step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he secures re-election as president, a government lawyer said today.

Legal wrangling over President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid intensified today after exiled former leader Benazir Bhutto accused the general’s allies of pushing Pakistan toward a dangerous crisis by refusing to restore democracy and share power.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will return to Pakistan on October 18 to press for the restoration of democracy, regardless of the outcome of talks with its US-allied military president, her party said today.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in the Saudi port city of Jiddah today, hours after he was deported from his country.

Pakistan’s government today urged exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not to return home, saying he should honour a promise he made to stay away after being ousted from power.

A court today ordered the arrest of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s brother, three days before the siblings are to return to Pakistan to challenge President Gen Pervez Musharraf, a lawyer said.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf will make a final attempt to seal a deal with exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto that could keep the general in power, a senior official said today.

Exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto’s party today met to decide whether to end talks with President Gen Pervez Musharraf over a pact that could see them share power and end military rule in Pakistan.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf is discussing whether to quit as army chief before upcoming elections, the government said today, rejecting a rival’s claim that the decision has already been made.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf has not yet decided whether to step down as army chief before an upcoming presidential election, a government spokesman said today.

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

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.

US President George Bush today said with the right intelligence US and Pakistan governments can take out al Qaida leaders, and would not say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering US forces to act on their own.

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.

Pakistan’s turmoil spread from the Afghan frontier to the south today, when a suicide bomber hit a convoy carrying Chinese workers, killing 29 Pakistani bystanders and police.

THE captured chief cleric of a militant mosque was allowed to lead funeral prayers for his slain brother yesterday and he predicted that the deaths of the mosque’s defenders in an army raid would push Pakistan toward an “Islamic revolution”.

The foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed today to increase cooperation after meeting with Group of Eight counterparts concerned that acrimony between the two neighbours is helping the Taliban inflict mounting losses on NATO troops and Afghan civilians.

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.

Hundreds of religious hard-liners chanting “Jihad!” staged rallies today in a Pakistani town against an army airstrike on a suspected al Qaida hide-out and claimed it had killed innocent labourers, witnesses said.

Pakistan’s President Gen Pervez Musharraf today blamed the West for breeding terrorism in his country by bringing in thousands of mujahedeen to fight the Soviets in neighbouring Afghanistan then leaving Pakistan alone a decade later to face the armed warriors.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf today acknowledged al-Qaida and Taliban militants were crossing from Pakistan to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, but denied Pakistan’s powerful military intelligence agency was helping them.

Seven explosions rocked Mumbai’s commuter rail network during today’s evening rush hour, killing at least 105 people and injuring 300, officials said.

Pakistan’s president has granted a stay of execution for a British-Pakistani man who was set to hang next month for the killing of a taxi driver 18 years ago, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said today.

About 50,000 people, many chanting “Hang those who insulted the prophet”, rallied in a southern Pakistani city to protest at cartoon drawings of the prophet Muhammad.

Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf said today that Iran should not be allowed develop nuclear weapons, but did not say if the country should face economic sanctions.

THE pre-dawn airstrike aimed at Ayman al-Zawahri in a remote Pakistani village was intended as a devastating blow to al-Qaida, but it has strained ties with a key US ally in the war on terror and could provoke more anti-American fanaticism in this Islamic country, analysts said yesterday.

QUAKE survivors marked a normally joyous Muslim festival with sombre prayers in debris-strewn fields and visits to the graves of victims yesterday, as Pakistan’s president deferred a key purchase of US fighter jets to focus on reconstruction.

FORECASTS of rain showers and light snow on earthquake-hit regions of northern Pakistan are threatening to compound the misery of hundreds of thousands of people living with little or no shelter.

Pakistan’s president said today he would allow Kashmiris to cross the boundary with Indian-held territory to help in quake reconstruction efforts.

Britain has expressed satisfaction today that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was cracking down on Islamic extremists and said there was “no question” of blaming Pakistan for the July 7 bombings that killed 56 people in London.

Far from the dusty village where she was brutally assaulted three years ago on the orders of a tribal council, Pakistani rape victim Mukhtar Mai appeared before the Supreme Court in the capital today to demand the reinstatement of death sentences for five of her alleged attackers.

Authorities arrested al-Qaida’s No 3 commander and said today they were “on the right track” to catch bin Laden himself.

Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted in two attempts to assassinate President Gen Pervez Musharraf, has been arrested in Pakistan, the government said today.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was expected to arrive in Pakistan later today for talks with President Gen Pervez Musharraf and defence officials, a foreign ministry official said.