Pakistan defuses crisis, agreeing to restore judge

Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:59pm EDT

* Chief justice to be reinstated, official says

* Prime minister to address nation shortly

* Street protests threatened to escalate



By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD, March 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan's government agreed on Monday to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice to defuse a political crisis and end street agitation that threatened to turn into violent confrontation, officials said.

"Chaudhry will be restored, and there will also be a constitutional package," a government official with knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

The political crisis gripping the Muslim nation has alarmed the United States and Britain, which fear any slide into chaos would help the Taliban and al Qaeda become stronger in Pakistan.

Western diplomats have tried to make President Asif Ali Zardari pull out of a collision that could destabilise the year-old civilian coalition and force a reluctant army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, to intervene.

Sharif, a two-time prime minister with a conservative, religious nationalist support base in the key central province of Punjab, had backed a lawyers' movement fighting for the independence of the judiciary.

A senior leader in Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) party confirmed the breakthrough.

"The message we got (is) that the government has decided to restore chief justice Chaudhry and they are going to announce it shortly," Khawaja Asif told Reuters.

"There will be a very comprehensive package," he said.

The government had been offering some concessions, but Sharif refused to accept anything less than Chaudhry's restoration.

Zardari finally conceded as the opposition leader and the lawyers held a day of protest in Lahore on Sunday, and set off for Islamabad for the climax of a series of protests they had dubbed "the Long March".

To stop them driving into Islamabad, authorities positioned containers and trucks across roads outside the capital.

Paramilitary troops are camped in a city sports complex and deployed at entry points, while, officials say, the army has been put on stand-by.

Chaudhry was dismissed in late 2007 as Supreme Court chief justice by the then president and army chief, General Pervez Musharraf.

President Zardari had feared the judge could wage a vendetta against Musharraf that could also threaten his own position.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was due to address the nation on state-run television shortly.

The crisis began when Zardari ejected the PML-N from power in Punjab last month, after the Supreme Court barred Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz from holding elected office. (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Writing by SImon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Kevin Liffey)



Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.