Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifted a national state of emergency today after making last-minute changes to the constitution to strengthen his hand against the courts and parliament.
Amid months of political turmoil and the stiffest challenges to his rule since he seized power in a 1999 coup, the government announced his unpopular emergency rule was over and that the constitution was no longer suspended.
Just three weeks before new elections for parliament the lifting is unlikely to quell deep discontent over his handling of a political crisis that first erupted when he took on the country's lawyers in March.
Mr Musharraf put Pakistan in a state of emergency on 3 November. The constitution was suspended, thousands of people were jailed, uncooperative judges were sacked and tough new curbs were slapped on the media.
