Pakistani lawyers set fire to a poster of Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and a leading presidential candidate to succeed former president Pervez Musharraf, during a protest in Islamabad yesterday. Pakistani lawyers staged protests in several cities to press for the reinstatement of judges sacked by the country's former president Pervez Musharraf. Photo: AFP

Hundreds of Pakistani lawyers protested yesterday to demand the reinstatement of judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf, an issue at the heart of political instability here.
Several cities saw the black-suited lawyers joined by political party workers and other supporters carrying black flags as they blocked key roads for two hours in Islamabad, shouting slogans against the government.
"Reinstate judges" they chanted, saying that "War will continue" until the judiciary's independence is restored.
Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposed dozens of judges under a state of emergency last November when it appeared they would challenge his re-election as president the previous month.