Aitazaz released from house arrest!

The Chief antagonist amongst the lawyer’s movement that spearheaded opposition to President Pervez Musharraf was released on Sunday after four months of detention and house arrest, a senior government official said.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a former Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, was detained hours after Musharraf imposed emergency rule on the country on Nov. 3 last year. His staunch support of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was purged when Musharraf imposed emergency rule, along with dozens of other judges seen seen as hostile to Musharraf’s re-election in October while still army chief.

“His detention is over. He’s now free man. There’s no need to issue any release order,” Khusro Pervaiz Khan, home secretary of provincial Punjab government, told Reuters. Reports state that barricades outside Ahsan’s house in Lahore, have been removed and police withdrawn.

Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, was held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for nearly three weeks before being put under house arrest in Lahore.He vowed on Sunday to continue a campaign by lawyers to press for the restoration of the sacked judges.“We’ll continue our fight. We believe there’s no independent judiciary until all detained judges are released and restored,” he said. ­