Islamabad, Pakistan ? The country’s fired chief justice, whose fight to get his job back became a national movement that ultimately led to the downfall of military ruler Pervez Musharraf, will be reinstated this week, the prime minister announced today.

The reinstatement of Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry would likely calm tensions and end a political crisis that threatened to undermine the year-old civilian government and hurt the U.S. ally’s ability to fight militants along the country’s border with Afghanistan.

But the decision also could weaken the grip of President Asif Ali Zardari, who had been adamant he would not reinstate Chaudhry. Zardari relented as a growing protest march started moving toward Islamabad. The president met late Sunday with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who helped convince Zardari that Chaudhry had to come back, sources said.

In a nationally televised address at daybreak today, Gilani said Chaudhry would resume his post Saturday, when the current chief justice is scheduled to retire. The prime minister also ordered the immediate release of all political activists and lawyers arrested over the last several days, The Associated Press reported.

The civilian government has restored 54 of the 63 judges sacked by Musharraf in 2007, but the chief justice has always been a sticking point.

He’s independent, stubborn and unpredictable. And Chaudhry has demonstrated repeatedly he won’t bow to pressure. Critics say Zardari did not want to restore Chaudhry because of fears the judge would reconsider corruption cases against him. Zardari’s defenders said Chaudhry had become too political to lead the country’s judicial system.

Early today, lawyers and political supporters gathered at Chaudhry’s home in Islamabad.

Even though he had been fired, he was allowed to stay in the chief justice’s house. There, Chaudhry sat in an armchair in a corner of the living room, greeting an endless line of well-wishers. In another corner, lawyers crowded around a TV and waited for Gilani’s speech.

In the street, people shouted, “Go, Zardari, go!” meaning they wanted him to leave office. Small groups of lawyers, in black suits, black ties and white shirts, danced and sang.

“This is a turning point in the history of Pakistan,” said Roedad Khan, a retired senior government official. “With an independent judiciary at the center, it will be virtually impossible for any general to declare martial law.”