Chronology of Pakistan's political crisis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Saturday, days before an expected court judgment on his re-election and amid mounting Islamist violence.   

The announcement is the culmination of a political crisis that began when military ruler President Pervez Musharraf tried to sack Pakistan's chief justice in March, sparking mass protests.   

Here is a chronology of events:       

March 9: Musharraf asks Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to resign over allegations of misconduct. Chaudhry refuses.      

March 10-12: Lawyers hold nationwide protests, the first in a series of demonstrations across the country.       

March 16: Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of opposition supporters in Islamabad and smash up studios of a private television station.       

March 26: First joint protests organised by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. 

May 5-6: Thousands cheer Chaudhry's motorcade from Islamabad to Lahore, where he declares to a huge crowd that the "era of dictatorship is over." Similar trips to other cities follow in May and June. 

May 12-13: Forty-three people killed after government supporters prevent Chaudhry from attending a rally in the southern port city of Karachi. Strikes called afterwards paralyse much of the country.  

July 3-10: Pakistani troops besiege the pro-Taliban Red Mosque in Islamabad, then storm the building a week later. More than 100 people die during the course of the crisis.       

July 20: Supreme Court reinstates Chaudhry and quashes the charges against him. Bhutto and Musharraf hold secret meeting in Abu Dhabi on a possible power-sharing deal to sideline Sharif.  

Aug 9: Musharraf decides against imposing state of emergency nationwide following pressure from Washington.       

Aug 23: Supreme Court rules Sharif can return from exile.       

Sept 10: Sharif sent back to exile in Saudi Arabia four hours after his plane from London touches down at Islamabad airport.       

Sept 18: Musharraf's lawyer says he will step down as army chief if re-elected.       

Sept 28: Pakistan's Supreme Court rules that Musharraf can run for re-election while keeping his role as army chief, throwing out a raft of legal challenges.       

Sept 29: Police clash with lawyers and journalists, beating them with batons as the election commission approves Musharraf's nomination for a second term.       

Sept 30: Opposition parties lodge last-ditch challenge in the Supreme Court, which court was due to rule on in next two weeks.       

Oct 5: Supreme Court rules that presidential election can go ahead but results cannot be officially announced until it rules on challenges.       

Oct 6: Musharraf wins presidential election.       

Oct 18: Bhutto returns to Karachi from Dubai after eight years in self-exile. Two suicide bombers attack her homecoming parade hours later, killing 139 people.       

Oct 31: Bhutto says she has heard rumours Musharraf will impose a state of emergency and postpones planned trip to Dubai. She flies to Dubai the following day.       

Nov 1: Supreme Court says it will not be influenced by threats of emergency.       

Nov 3: Musharraf imposes state of emergency.