Pakistan's Zardari yields on fired judge

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By Nasir Khan, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

UPDATED:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

The embattled government of President Asif Ali Zardari agreed Sunday to reinstate a deposed Supreme Court justice in an attempt to end nationwide protests that threaten the nation's fragile democracy, politicians said.

The decision came as a battle between the president and supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif played out on the streets of downtown Lahore, with rock-throwing protesters waging running battles with police as a motorcade prepared to depart for an anti-government demonstration in Islamabad on Monday.

News reports said that the current prime minister would announce plans to reinstate deposed Supreme Court Justice Iftikar Mohammad Chaudhry in a nationwide address Monday.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was also expected to announce efforts to reverse a recent Supreme Court decision that had banned Mr. Sharif from politics.

The former justice's fate and Mr. Sharif's political future had combined to trigger an outburst of anti-government rage that paralyzed the country at a time when the West needs its cooperation battling al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called both Mr. Sharif and Mr. Zardari over the weekend, urging them to mend their differences.

Anti-government protests turned violent Sunday when police surrounded the home of Mr. Sharif in Lahore and attempted to place him under house arrest.

Mr. Sharif defied the arrest order by leaving his house in a motorcade and driving to downtown Lahore, where he managed to calm the demonstrators.