General Pervez Musharraf seized power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promising to bring "true" democracy, law and order and economic revival to Pakistan.
The early years of his rule were also dominated by questions of foreign policy, particularly tensions with India over Kashmir.
But, it was the events of 11 September 2001 that have become the defining feature of his presidency, leading to a dramatic change in Pakistan's relations with the rest of the world.
The man who had been shunned as a dictator by many in the West after his bloodless coup became, almost overnight, a pivotal player on the world stage as Washington realised it needed the cooperation of Pakistan in order to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Islamist constituency
President Musharraf was thrown into a marriage of convenience.
He argued that for strategic reasons he had little choice but to join the American "war on terror", even though it meant abandoning support for the Taleban.
Pakistan has sent troops into its unruly tribal areas
Pakistan had previously been one of only three countries to recognise the Taleban diplomatically.
The president has often been described as walking a tightrope as he has sought to balance demands from the US to crack down on extremism in Pakistan and the demands from an increasingly vocal, and anti-American, Islamist constituency.
Some suggested that this has suited the president, allowing him to minimise the expectations of both sides.
Relations with nuclear rival India worsened after an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi in December 2001. India blamed terrorists sponsored by Pakistan - an allegation denied by Pakistan.
President Musharraf's actions against the two groups India blamed for the attacks - Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba were not enough to satisfy Delhi and by the summer of 2002 the two countries appeared again to be on the brink of war with over a million troops massed along both sides of the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Tensions have since lowered after the two countries began peace talks in early 2004.
Some Indian officials still see the president as the cunning mastermind of the Kargil conflict in the summer of 1999 when he was the army chief.
The president likes to convey a non-military image
Pakistani regular soldiers and some militants infiltrated the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir bringing the two countries to the brink of all-out war.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif withdrew his troops, but not before India had launched an air and land campaign against the infiltrators.
Mr Sharif's subsequent attempt to dismiss General Musharraf as chief of army staff led instead to the army's dismissal of Nawaz Sharif.
General Musharraf was on an aircraft coming back from Sri Lanka when he heard news of his dismissal, yet was still organised enough to rally troops to his cause soon after landing and to seize power.
His belligerent record on Kashmir was seen at that time as a potential strength, providing him with authority to undertake peace talks with India.
Deteriorating relations
But from the outset of his presidency, he has been constrained by strong domestic support for Kashmiri militancy in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, relations with Pakistan's northern neighbour Afghanistan have deteriorated since the fall of the Taleban and coming to power of President Hamid Karzai.
There have been at least two attempts on Musharraf's life
Afghan officials have increasingly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stem the movement of militants sympathetic to al-Qaeda and the Taleban across the border into Afghanistan.
Pakistan counters that it has sent its troops into the tribal regions of Waziristan to target al -Qaeda and Taleban fighters for the first time in the history of Pakistan.
However, recent developments suggest that the home-grown fighters now known as the Pakistani Taleban control substantial areas of the border regions of North and South Waziristan.
Humanitarian tragedy
The military is also engaged on another front against nationalists in the province of Balochistan who accuse the government of exploiting the region's natural resources but neglecting its development.
Pakistan's human rights commission has accused security forces of serious violations of human rights during the campaign, and expressed concern more generally about the growing militarisation of the country.
A humanitarian tragedy tested the leadership of Pakistan in October 2005 as a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
More than 73,000 people died and three million were made homeless as a result of the quake.
The aftermath re-emphasised the pressing development challenges in Pakistan.
The president says he has clamped down on Kashmiri militants
Beyond the logistical challenges of reaching the remote mountain villages affected by the quake, the country also faced the task of providing for the earthquake's victims.
Poverty in Pakistan, particularly in rural areas, rose during the 1990s after declining in the 1970s and 1980s. This was accompanied by tumbling economic growth.
Turning around the decline in economic growth in this period was part of President Musharraf's promise on assuming power. And he has overseen an improvement in economic growth, receiving praise from international institutions for the introduction of economic reforms. Poverty has also fallen somewhat.
He has moved ahead with plans to build the massive Kalabagh dam, despite widespread protests, because he says it will help poor farmers.
Democracy roadmap
But there are still major questions ahead, not least about how the country is governed. Another of President Musharraf's promises on assuming office was to devolve power to the grassroots and improve accountability.
Early on he announced a 'roadmap to democracy'.
Elections to the national assembly were held in 2002 following a presidential referendum, with only one choice of presidential candidate, in which voters agreed to extend his rule for five years.
Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were banned from taking part in the polls.
And for the first time in Pakistan's history, an alliance of Islamic religious parties gained a strong showing in the assembly, and gained control of two of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies.
Local elections have also been held.
But the issue of the president's continued occupation of the top military and civil posts has not been resolved.
Musharraf: Feted by George Bush
He broke an earlier pledge to give up his military uniform by January 2005 and there is now some uncertainty about whether he will do so before 2007, when fresh elections to the national assembly and the presidency are scheduled.
The Delhi-born son of an Urdu-speaking family that migrated to Pakistan after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 has survived numerous assassination attempts and plots - the latest in December 2003.
But he is facing an increasing number of challenges on the domestic front - especially rising prices of fuel and food - as well as continuing extremism.
Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims also simmers on.
General Musharraf will also be only too aware of Pakistan's old complaint of being picked up and then rapidly forgotten by the US once its strategic interests shift.
Pakistan today sits in the shadow of an increasingly blossoming relationship between the US and India, its battle against militancy continues unabated and it was recently labelled in an American study as a "failed state".
President Musharraf may reflect that while he may have made progress in economic growth, the country's many problems show no signs of disappearing.
The early years of his rule were also dominated by questions of foreign policy, particularly tensions with India over Kashmir.
But, it was the events of 11 September 2001 that have become the defining feature of his presidency, leading to a dramatic change in Pakistan's relations with the rest of the world.
The man who had been shunned as a dictator by many in the West after his bloodless coup became, almost overnight, a pivotal player on the world stage as Washington realised it needed the cooperation of Pakistan in order to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Islamist constituency
President Musharraf was thrown into a marriage of convenience.
He argued that for strategic reasons he had little choice but to join the American "war on terror", even though it meant abandoning support for the Taleban.
Pakistan has sent troops into its unruly tribal areas
Pakistan had previously been one of only three countries to recognise the Taleban diplomatically.
The president has often been described as walking a tightrope as he has sought to balance demands from the US to crack down on extremism in Pakistan and the demands from an increasingly vocal, and anti-American, Islamist constituency.
Some suggested that this has suited the president, allowing him to minimise the expectations of both sides.
Relations with nuclear rival India worsened after an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi in December 2001. India blamed terrorists sponsored by Pakistan - an allegation denied by Pakistan.
President Musharraf's actions against the two groups India blamed for the attacks - Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba were not enough to satisfy Delhi and by the summer of 2002 the two countries appeared again to be on the brink of war with over a million troops massed along both sides of the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Tensions have since lowered after the two countries began peace talks in early 2004.
Some Indian officials still see the president as the cunning mastermind of the Kargil conflict in the summer of 1999 when he was the army chief.
The president likes to convey a non-military image
Pakistani regular soldiers and some militants infiltrated the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir bringing the two countries to the brink of all-out war.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif withdrew his troops, but not before India had launched an air and land campaign against the infiltrators.
Mr Sharif's subsequent attempt to dismiss General Musharraf as chief of army staff led instead to the army's dismissal of Nawaz Sharif.
General Musharraf was on an aircraft coming back from Sri Lanka when he heard news of his dismissal, yet was still organised enough to rally troops to his cause soon after landing and to seize power.
His belligerent record on Kashmir was seen at that time as a potential strength, providing him with authority to undertake peace talks with India.
Deteriorating relations
But from the outset of his presidency, he has been constrained by strong domestic support for Kashmiri militancy in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, relations with Pakistan's northern neighbour Afghanistan have deteriorated since the fall of the Taleban and coming to power of President Hamid Karzai.
There have been at least two attempts on Musharraf's life
Afghan officials have increasingly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stem the movement of militants sympathetic to al-Qaeda and the Taleban across the border into Afghanistan.
Pakistan counters that it has sent its troops into the tribal regions of Waziristan to target al -Qaeda and Taleban fighters for the first time in the history of Pakistan.
However, recent developments suggest that the home-grown fighters now known as the Pakistani Taleban control substantial areas of the border regions of North and South Waziristan.
Humanitarian tragedy
The military is also engaged on another front against nationalists in the province of Balochistan who accuse the government of exploiting the region's natural resources but neglecting its development.
Pakistan's human rights commission has accused security forces of serious violations of human rights during the campaign, and expressed concern more generally about the growing militarisation of the country.
A humanitarian tragedy tested the leadership of Pakistan in October 2005 as a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
More than 73,000 people died and three million were made homeless as a result of the quake.
The aftermath re-emphasised the pressing development challenges in Pakistan.
The president says he has clamped down on Kashmiri militants
Beyond the logistical challenges of reaching the remote mountain villages affected by the quake, the country also faced the task of providing for the earthquake's victims.
Poverty in Pakistan, particularly in rural areas, rose during the 1990s after declining in the 1970s and 1980s. This was accompanied by tumbling economic growth.
Turning around the decline in economic growth in this period was part of President Musharraf's promise on assuming power. And he has overseen an improvement in economic growth, receiving praise from international institutions for the introduction of economic reforms. Poverty has also fallen somewhat.
He has moved ahead with plans to build the massive Kalabagh dam, despite widespread protests, because he says it will help poor farmers.
Democracy roadmap
But there are still major questions ahead, not least about how the country is governed. Another of President Musharraf's promises on assuming office was to devolve power to the grassroots and improve accountability.
Early on he announced a 'roadmap to democracy'.
Elections to the national assembly were held in 2002 following a presidential referendum, with only one choice of presidential candidate, in which voters agreed to extend his rule for five years.
Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were banned from taking part in the polls.
And for the first time in Pakistan's history, an alliance of Islamic religious parties gained a strong showing in the assembly, and gained control of two of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies.
Local elections have also been held.
But the issue of the president's continued occupation of the top military and civil posts has not been resolved.
Musharraf: Feted by George Bush
He broke an earlier pledge to give up his military uniform by January 2005 and there is now some uncertainty about whether he will do so before 2007, when fresh elections to the national assembly and the presidency are scheduled.
The Delhi-born son of an Urdu-speaking family that migrated to Pakistan after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 has survived numerous assassination attempts and plots - the latest in December 2003.
But he is facing an increasing number of challenges on the domestic front - especially rising prices of fuel and food - as well as continuing extremism.
Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims also simmers on.
General Musharraf will also be only too aware of Pakistan's old complaint of being picked up and then rapidly forgotten by the US once its strategic interests shift.
Pakistan today sits in the shadow of an increasingly blossoming relationship between the US and India, its battle against militancy continues unabated and it was recently labelled in an American study as a "failed state".
President Musharraf may reflect that while he may have made progress in economic growth, the country's many problems show no signs of disappearing.
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