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Sharif joins Pakistan protesters | |
(20 minutes later) | |
Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has joined supporters on a march to the capital Islamabad to stage an anti-government protest. | Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has joined supporters on a march to the capital Islamabad to stage an anti-government protest. |
Hours ahead of the planned march, there were reports that President Asif Ali Zardari had agreed to reinstate sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. | |
The reinstatement of Mr Chaudhry and other judges has been a key opposition demand amid a growing political crisis. | The reinstatement of Mr Chaudhry and other judges has been a key opposition demand amid a growing political crisis. |
Mr Sharif earlier defied an apparent bid to place him under house arrest. | Mr Sharif earlier defied an apparent bid to place him under house arrest. |
Hundreds of police had surrounded his home in Lahore but the government denied that he was being detained. | |
Power struggle | |
Mr Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), has been planning a "long march" to arrive in Islamabad on Monday to stage a sit-in to demand the reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf. | Mr Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), has been planning a "long march" to arrive in Islamabad on Monday to stage a sit-in to demand the reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf. |
Iftikhar Chaudhry and other judges were sacked by Gen Musharraf | |
Mr Sharif is expected to arrive in Rawalpindi - near Islamabad - in the early hours of Monday. | |
He is due to be joined there by his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, former chief minister of the Punjab, and leaders of the lawyers' movement demanding the judges' reinstatement. | |
The campaign over the judges has become a power struggle between Mr Sharif and President Zardari, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad. | |
The government has arrested hundreds of opposition activists and banned rallies, saying they could trigger violence. | |
Our correspondent says it is not clear if Mr Sharif will be able to reach Islamabad, given the authorities have blocked routes leading to the capital. | |
She says the unrest has alarmed the West, which wants Pakistan to focus on the battle against the Taleban on the Afghan border. | |
President Zardari - the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - promised to bring back the judges when he took office last year following his wife's assassination. |