Pakistan’s ruling coalition on Friday night announced the reinstatement of all the judges dismissed by Pervez Musharraf last November, in a challenge to the president’s position.

The decision follows more than a week of intense negotiations which, in their final rounds, were led by Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister dismissed by Mr Musharraf in a 1999 military coup, and Asif Zardari, husband of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister killed in a bomb attack in December while campaigning for parliamentary elections.