Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf swore in Yousuf Raza Gillani has prime minister to lead an opposition government whose initial steps challenge both President Musharraf's and President Bush's policies.

Just a few minutes into his new office, Prime Minister Gillani ordered the release of judges President Musharraf had jailed and put under house arrest in November to prevent them from overturning his re-election as president. The restored judges could reject Mr. Musharraf's election.

Members of Parliament chanted for President Musharraf to go while shouting "Long Live Bhutto," a reference to Benazir Bhutto who had been a leading candidate for prime minister before her assassination in December. Prime Minister Gillani has also said he would ask for a formal U.N. inquiry into the killing.

The new prime minister spent five years in jail under President Musharraf's rule. The new governing coalition of the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N has said it will reduce President Musharraf's power. Parliament, with a two-thirds majority, could oust Mr. Musharraf, although he has the power to disband parliament under changes he instituted.

The transition could also affect U.S. policies in Pakistan and the region. The new prime minister took office as two Bush administration envoys arrived in Islamabad to discuss policy. The Bush administration has considered Mr. Musharraf a key ally in the war on terror, a position that has angered many Pakistanis.

As evidence of the growing split between Pakistan and Washington, coalition government leaders have said they will pursue talks with al-Qaida and the Taliban, a strategy that has been opposed by Washington. Similar negotiations that led to a truce allowed extremists to strengthen their positions, especially in the tribal areas of the northwest where militants use their safe haven to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

"When you have a problem in your own family, you don't kill your own family. You sit down and talk," said Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N. "Obviously what they have been doing the past eight years has not been working. Even a fool knows that."

The new government sees distancing itself from America as one way to break from the policies of Mr. Musharraf and solidify support among Pakistanis. But it will also pose problems for American policy that has depended on Mr. Musharraf.