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Pakistan's government agreed yesterday to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice in a surprise move to defuse a crisis and end agitation by lawyers and activists that had threatened to turn into violent confrontation.

Chaudhry's reinstatement will cool tension but friction is likely to persist between President Asif Ali Zardari, who analysts say has been weakened by the controversy over the judge, and his emboldened rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

"It's the first time in the history of Pakistan that a movement launched by the middle class has proved successful," said retired judge Tariq Mehmud, a leader of the lawyers.