Kamran Haider
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/ 16 November 2007

Pakistan frees Bhutto from house arrest

Pakistan freed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest early on Friday, hours after a caretaker prime minister was appointed in a first step towards a national election. Jail officials left the residence in the eastern city of Lahore where Bhutto has been held to prevent her from leading a pro-democracy rally.

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/ 13 November 2007

Bhutto detained ahead of mass protest

Pakistani police put opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for a week on Tuesday to thwart a protest procession as President Pervez Musharraf came under growing international pressure to end emergency rule. Military ruler Musharraf set off a storm of criticism when he imposed emergency rule on November 3.

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/ 10 November 2007

Pakistan a pressure cooker, says Bhutto

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto described Pakistan on Saturday as a pressure cooker about to explode, as President Pervez Musharraf’s government tightened screws on media by ordering out three British journalists. Having invoked emergency powers a week ago, Musharraf has sacked most of the country’s judges and ordered police to round up most of the opposition leadership.

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/ 5 October 2007

Supreme Court puts Musharraf’s future on ice

Pakistan’s Supreme Court kept the fate of President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid in its hands by deciding a vote could go ahead on Saturday, but a winner cannot be declared until it rules if he was eligible to stand. United States ally General Musharraf is sure to win the vote in Parliament and the country’s four provincial assemblies.

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/ 27 September 2007

Pakistan’s Musharraf nominated for vote

Pakistan military leader President Pervez Musharraf filed nomination papers on Thursday to run for re-election on October 6, while the Supreme Court prepared to rule on the army chief’s eligibility to stand. A bench of nine judges is due to deliver a ruling on Friday that could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s transition to greater democracy.

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/ 18 September 2007

Musharraf to quit army if re-elected

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will give up his post of army chief if he is re-elected president and he will be sworn in for a new term as a civilian, his lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The promise to stand down as army chief removes a major objection to Musharraf’s proposed re-election by October 15.

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/ 14 September 2007

Suicide bomber kills 15 Pakistani soldiers

At least 15 Pakistani soldiers were killed on Thursday in a suicide bombing at an army building near the capital Islamabad, the military said, the second major attack on the army this month. The blast occurred in the canteen of the building used by the army’s elite Special Services Group in the town of Tarbela Ghazi.