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 The inauguration ceremony came a day after he ended a four-decade military career as part of his long-delayed pledge not to serve as both president and army chief.
Opposition politicians on Thursday urged Musharraf to immediately lift emergency rule, restore the constitution and reverse his decision to oust chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other independent-minded judges.
Musharraf sought to justify the emergency imposed on Nov. 3, during which he purged the Supreme Court just as it was about to issue a verdict on the legality of his continued rule. The retooled court last week gave its stamp of approval.
He also lashed out at Western diplomats, giving them a stinging rebuttal of their criticisms.
"I personally feel that there is an unrealistic and maybe an impractical or impracticable obsession with your form of democracy, with your form of human rights, civil liberties," Musharraf said, claiming to speak for developing countries everywhere.
Pakistan wanted to attain those goals, but would need time and support to reach standards that others had built over centuries, he said.
"We will do it our way as we understand our society, our environment better than anyone in the West," he said.
Musharraf also welcomed the return from exile of his old foes, former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, saying it was "good" for political reconciliation.
"I only hope that they will ... move forward toward a conciliatory, civilized, democratic and political environment in the future," Musharraf said.
However, neither was present at Thursday's ceremony in the state palace in Islamabad, and it remained unclear whether the changeover would defuse the threat of a boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections. Such a move would undercut Musharraf's effort to legitimize his rule through a democratic ballot.
"This is a milestone in the transition of Pakistan to the complete essence of democracy," Musharraf told an audience of government officials, foreign diplomats and military generals. "Elections will be held in January come whatever may."
Musharraf also said that stepped-up military action had "broken the back of the spread of terrorism" in the northwest.
Still, a military spokesman said five soldiers died and four were injured in the region Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded next to a passing convoy.
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 In the eastern city of Lahore, street clashes broke out between police and lawyers protesting against Musharraf's inauguration. Four lawyers and three officers were injured, police said.
About 200 demonstrators -- chanting "Go, Musharraf, go!" and "Friends of Musharraf are traitors"
-- flung bricks and sticks at policemen who blocked their path as they tried to march from one court complex to another, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Musharraf was the Pakistani army's commander in chief when he seized power from Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. He retained the post for the past eight years and the army has remained his main power base throughout.
On Wednesday, he finally ceded command to a hand-picked loyalist, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.
"I am sure Pakistan will grow stronger with me as civilian president and Gen. Kayani as army chief," Musharraf said.
Sadique al-Farooq, a senior leader of Nawaz Sharif's party, said he hoped that Gen. Kayani would "learn lessons from the mistakes of Musharraf, and will never think of indulging in politics."
Fazalur Rehman, another opposition leader, said the country's opposition parties were still undecided on whether to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections. "We are consulting other opposition parties on this issue and a final decision about it is expected soon," he said.
In Washington, President Bush praised Musharraf for keeping his word and relinquishing his military post, calling it a "strong first step" toward enhancing democracy in Pakistan.
"It is something that a lot of people doubted would ever happen," Bush said in an interview Wednesday with CNN's "The Situation Room."
But Bush added that "in order to get Pakistan back on the road to democracy, he's got to suspend the emergency law before elections."
[Associated
Press; By SLOBODAN LEKIC]
Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad in Islamabad and Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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