Pakistan court clears way for Musharraf's 2nd term

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court, stacked with judges friendly to President Pervez Musharraf, on Thursday threw out a final challenge to his re-election and paved the way for him to quit as army chief.

The long-awaited ruling comes as the 53-nation Commonwealth suspended Pakistan, the second time since Musharraf took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, because he has resisted calls to fully lift emergency rule imposed on November 3 by Thursday.

"Dismissed," Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar said after hearing the petition, the sixth and final challenge to Musharraf's October 6 re-election to be thrown out by the court.

Attorney General Malik Qayyum said before the ruling he expected Musharraf to be sworn in for a second term "by the weekend or immediately thereafter".

Musharraf's top legal adviser, Sharifuddin Pirzada, said there was now no legal obstacle to his re-election. "Now the court has to give us this in writing," Pirzada said.

Musharraf repeatedly promised to relinquish his army post and be sworn in as a civilian leader for a second five-year term in what he calls a transition to civilian-led democracy once his re-election had been endorsed by the court.

While critical of his actions, the United States has given leeway to General Musharraf, an ally in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban, to put things right before a general election on January 8 that the opposition may boycott.

Investors in the Karachi stock market welcomed the court ruling. Shares gained 0.25 percent on Thursday on top of 1.5 percent on Wednesday, leaving the market 2.7 percent below pre-emergency levels.