Pakistani opposition lawyer released from house arrest

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani lawyer who spearheaded opposition to President Pervez Musharraf was released on Sunday from 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 November 3 last year.

He had supported former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was purged when Musharraf imposed emergency rule, along with dozens of other judges 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.

A Reuters reporter said barricades outside Ahsan's house in eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab, had been removed and police withdrawn.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.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Writing by Kamran Haider)