The last week was a rollercoaster ride for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
Hardly a week ago, Musharraf's political fortunes had plummeted to a low point. Some had begun to visualise it might be time to compose his political obituary. The entanglement with the judiciary was debilitating him.
However, Musharraf's restraint and tact in the early stages of the Lal Masjid crisis won him credit.
Musharraf got his point through, that he tried his best to be conciliatory and reasonable, without taking recourse to force against the militants holed up in the mosque. He let it be appreciated that it was most reluctantly, as a last resort, that he ordered the troops to storm the mosque.
Most certainly, he would have carried the army top brass along. Meanwhile, the government has carefully propagated its version that the remaining militants holed up in the mosque were hardcore 'terrorists' and that they probably included foreign nationals.
Musharraf would have been the clear winner if the standoff had ended peacefully. That seemed a distinct possibility on Monday evening. But in the event, the denouement has been bloody and controversial. It is a seminal moment for the Pakistan army.
In retrospect, it might appear that the government went through a carefully choreographed sequencing of responses after the troops besieged the mosque a week ago. Musharraf's detractors have suggested that there could be ambiguities in the unfolding drama, and that there might be something 'fishy'.
The crisis has accentuated the differences among the Opposition political parties. The absence of Benazir Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman from the all-party conference convened in London on Sunday at Nawaz Sharif's initiative brings out the disarray in the Opposition ranks.
The all-party conference ended up adopting a strident resolution vowing to oppose Musharraf tooth and nail, but it is highly doubtful if anyone takes it seriously.
Sharif remains badly isolated. The force of events at the Lal Masjid has forced the religious parties on the back foot. They are, even if reluctantly, compelled to accept the legitimacy of the government's security operation. Equally, the public opinion in the country has been vehemently supportive of the firm action by the government against the militants.
Arguably, Musharraf now finds himself well placed to strike a bargain on power-sharing with Bhutto. But there is another possibility. Following the Lal Masjid operations, he is sure to address the nation. The storming of the mosque has resulted in heavy casualties. The trauma of the Lal Masjid crisis has brought home