Pakistan's state of emergency 'to be lifted'

Islamabad: Pakistan's attorney general Malik Mohammed Qayyum said on Saturday that the country's "state of emergency will end within one month."

Qayyum provided no further details and would not say when a formal announcement might come.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto left her home in Islamabad for the first time, a day after being put under house arrest.

She is due to meet members of her Pakistan's People's Party (PPP) at their offices.

Security was still tight outside Bhutto's home, despite police saying she was no longer under house arrest. Witnesses said that barbed wires and blocks were still in place around the area.

The former prime minister is planning to lead a pro-democracy rally on Tuesday to defy President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule, her aide said.

"On the 13th, [the motorcade] will go ahead. If she's not there, the rally will still happen," said Jamil Soomro, a media coordinator for PPP.

Musharraf imposed emergency rule last Saturday and suspended the constitution. He also dismissed most of the country's judges and put senior officials under house arrest.