Allowing Mr Sharif to emerge as the winner of this byzantine quarrel must have seemed to the general the most acceptable solution in a state that claims to be a democracy.

ECONOMIST: The riddle of Pakistan | The

There is a natural tendency at such moments to look forward and try to work out what events in New York might mean for the future of the two-state solution and relations between Israelis and Palestinians in general.

BBC: UN vote gives Palestinians new diplomatic powers