Pakistan’s leaders announce progress in reinstating judges

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistani leaders reported progress Thursday in talks on how to restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf, signaling they had fended off a crisis that threatened to break up their month-old coalition government.

However, they did not announce a final accord on the matter, though details of the talks were promised by Friday.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wrapped up two days of marathon talks Thursday at a Dubai hotel.

Sharif said there had been “substantive progress” and that the judges would be restored through a parliamentary resolution. He said judicial reforms demanded by Zardari were a “separate issue” but that he would announce details on Friday after a party meeting in his home city of Lahore.

A smiling Zardari batted away reporters’ questions as he stepped into a limousine outside the hotel. However, Information Minister Sherry Rehman, a party colleague, said: “We will not disappoint people, as the leaders said that the judges will be restored and the coalition will remain intact.”

The parties in the coalition came to power after defeating allies of the U.S.-backed Musharraf in February elections, returning Pakistan to democracy after eight years of military rule. A break in the coalition could bring dangerous instability to a country key to U.S. goals in the war on terrorist groups.

Some analysts say Musharraf might have to quit if the judges are restored and they begin re-examining complaints that he was ineligible for another five-year term.

A collapse of the government, on the other hand, could bring Musharraf a reprieve. Already, the main pro-Musharraf party is evaluating its options. It has said it will work on its own proposal for restoring the judges and consider joining a new ruling coalition if the current one breaks up.

Musharraf ousted some 60 senior judges — including then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry — when he imposed a state of emergency in November to stop legal challenges to his re-election as president.