The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Islamabad

More than 3,000 people jailed under emergency rule have been released, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday, the latest sign that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was rolling back some of the harsher measures taken against his opponents.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema would not say how many opposition members were still behind bars, though the number was still believed to be in the hundreds or thousands.

Meanwhile, authorities said Tuesday they have begun releasing some of the thousands of opposition supporters detained since emergency rule was imposed earlier this month, while Pakistan's military leader departed for a visit to Saudi Arabia. The releases came hours after judges hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf quashed legal challenges to his disputed re-election as president. The decision enraged his most bitter opponents, but others said it could lead to an easing of restrictions and make it easier for politicians to campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Most of the few hundred people set free overnight were lawyers and ordinary opposition supporters. Many high-ranking party activists and leaders, such as former cricket star Imran Khan, remained in prison. Khan began a hunger strike Monday to protest emergency rule.