Pakistan's government today agreed to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice to defuse a political crisis and end street protests that were threatening to turn into violent confrontation.
Mr Chaudhry became a cause celebré after being dismissed in late 2007 by then-president and army chief General Pervez Musharraf.
"I announce the restoration of all deposed judges including Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry according to a promise made by the president of Pakistan and myself," prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said. Mr Chaudhry will be reinstated on March 21st, he added.
Earlier a government official had told Reuters that along with Mr Chaudhry's reinstatement "there will also be a constitutional package."
Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif had thrown his support behind the protest campaign by anti-government lawyers that had threatened to bring turmoil to Pakistan as the government struggles to stem militancy and to revive a flagging economy.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who was elected by parliament six months ago, had feared Mr Chaudhry could wage a vendetta against Mr Musharraf that could also threaten his own position.
His retreat on the issue will raise inevitable question marks over his future, while it will enhance the reputation of his chief rival, former prime minister Mr Sharif.
Several hundred jubilant lawyers and activists gathered outside Mr Chaudhry's Islamabad residence, which he refused to vacate after his dismissal when Mr Musharraf declared emergency rule in a desperate move to extend his presidency for another term.
"It's the first time in the history of Pakistan that a movement launched by the middle class has proved successful," said retired judge Tariq Mehmud, a leader of the lawyers.
Western diplomats had tried to make Mr Zardari pull out of a collision that could have destabilised the year-old civilian coalition and forced a reluctant army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, to intervene. Kayani was involved in negotiations leading up to the decision to restore the judge.
Mr Sharif, a two-time prime minister with a conservative, religious-nationalist support base, was overthrown by Mr Musharraf in 1999. Since his return from exile in 2007 he has become Pakistan's most popular politician, thanks partly to his stand on the judge.
Mr Sharif was conciliatory, congratulating Mr Zardari and Mr Gilani. "We have got the fruit of our two-year struggle," Mr Sharif told supporters.
Mr Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was elected by parliament last September after forcing Mr Musharraf to quit the presidency.
Deeply unpopular, Mr Zardari was further damaged when he broke a promise to Mr Sharif last year to reappoint Mr Chaudhry, though he brought back most other judges axed by Mr Musharraf.
But he conceded over Mr Chaudhry after Mr Sharif and the lawyers held a day of protest in Lahore and set off for Islamabad for a sit-in outside parliament.
Reuters