Pakistan's leaders extend talks on reinstating ousted judges

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, gestures to the media at Lahore airport on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 in Pakistan. Sharif left for Dubai to hold talks with his coalition partner Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Pakistan's slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto regarding a dead lock over restoration of Pakistani judges. Pakistan's coalition government formed by members of Sharif and Zardari parties, is under mounting pressure after its leaders failed to resolve differences over how to restore judges ousted under President Pervez Musharraf. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan's new leaders failed to meet their Wednesday deadline to restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf, but said they would keep trying to resolve a dispute that is threatening their month-old coalition government.

After seven hours of talks in the Persian Gulf state of Dubai, "there has been progress," said Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a senior official in the party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He and others predicted an agreement would be reached during further talks Thursday.

The main pro-Musharraf party, meanwhile, said it would start work on its own proposal for restoring the judges to office and consider the possibility of joining a new ruling coalition if the current one breaks apart.

Musharraf purged the Supreme Court in November to stop legal challenges to his continuation as president. Allies of the U.S.-backed leader were routed in February parliamentary elections by the parties that formed the new government.

The new ruling coalition promised to reinstate the judges by the end of April, but its leaders have yet to agree on exactly how.

The dispute has fueled speculation that the alliance, which has been easing Musharraf's military confrontation with Islamic militants, could crumble and bring more instability to a country considered key to U.S. goals in the war on terrorist groups.

The larger coalition party, led by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, wants to link the restoration of judges to a proposed package of judicial reforms that could narrow the powers of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and prevent judges from getting involved in politics.

Zardari has accused Chaudhry and other judges of "playing politics" and failing to deliver justice to him during the years he spent in jail on unproven corruption charges.

On his way to the meeting, Sharif said the two parties must honor a pledge to use a parliamentary resolution to restore the judiciary and urged Zardari to "de-link" the resolution from the proposed broader reforms.

"The resolution is a simple resolution ... we will be very happy to look at the constitutional package whenever it comes to us," Sharif told reporters.

Sharif's party has threatened to pull its ministers from the Cabinet if the judges issue drags on, but insists it will remain part of the coalition.

Officials from both parties sought to play down the Wednesday deadline.

Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Zardari's party, told Dawn News television that the Wednesday night deadline was "not critically important" as long as a deal eventually reached was smoothly implemented.

Khan, of Sharif's party, said as Wednesday's talks ended that the need for additional time wasn't serious. "A few hours here and there doesn't matter. But the fact of the matter is the final decision would be made tomorrow and I am saying this very categorically," he said.

Musharraf removed Chaudhry just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on the legality of his October election by the previous parliament to a new five-year presidential term. Musharraf accused the chief justice of corruption and conspiring against him and his plans to guide Pakistan back to democracy.

Chaudhry had shown an unusual degree of independence, blocking government privatization deals and investigating complaints that its spy agencies were holding opposition activists secretly under the cover of fighting international terrorism.

Some analysts predict Musharraf might have to quit if Chaudhry is restored and the court revisits the president's disputed re-election.

Sharif, whose government was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 coup, is demanding the ex-general's ouster. Yet Zardari's liberal party has repeatedly hinted it could govern without Sharif, a traditional rival with links to religious conservatives.

The political squabble has stirred talk in Pakistani media about the possible revival of a power-sharing deal that was being discussed by Musharraf and Bhutto before she was slain in December.

The main pro-Musharraf party, now in the minority, was considering its options Wednesday.

Spokesman Tariq Azeem said the party would start work on a resolution aimed at restoring the judiciary -- including Chaudhry -- if the current coalition could not offer a proposal.

Asked if Musharraf agreed with the intended move, Azeem said that "much water has passed under the bridge and the ground reality has now changed."

Azeem also said the party would consider whether to join Zardari's party in a coalition if Sharif's party quit the government. "We will see as to what are the terms and conditions for doing so," Azeem said. "We cannot rule it out."

Also Wednesday, Bhutto's party agreed to share power in the southern province of Sindh with a Karachi-based party that backed the previous pro-Musharraf government. Officials said there were no plans for it to join the federal coalition.

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Associated Press writers Barbara Surk in Dubai and Zarar Khan and Stephen Graham in Islamabad contributed to this report.