Pivotal Pakistan

Pakistan coalition faces Monday deadline on judges
By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's ruling coalition was at risk of collapsing Monday if its junior partner carries out a threat to quit unless judges ousted by ex-President Pervez Musharraf are restored immediately.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who heads the second-largest party in the coalition, set a Monday deadline for reinstating the judges, a response to the surprise announcement that federal and provincial lawmakers will select the new president on Sept. 6.

Asif Ali Zardari, head of the Pakistan People's Party and widower of the party's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto, agreed Saturday to run for the presidency.

The political instability has Pakistanis and their foreign backers, including the United States, worried that the government is too distracted to tackle rising Islamic militancy and serious economic problems.

It could concentrate power in the hands of Zardari, the leader of the main ruling party, which says it is committed to fighting terrorism but is seen by many Pakistanis as corrupt.

With Nomination papers due Tuesday, Sharif's party demanded clarity on the judges issue in order to decide whether to field its own candidate.

Spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said the party's leaders and lawmakers would meet in the capital on Monday to decide whether to quit the coalition and oppose Zardari.

He suggested a breakup could be averted if the election schedule was put back by some days.

But others said a withdrawal was in the cards.

"General opinion in the party is in favor of parting ways," Pervez Rasheed, a Sharif aide, told The Associated Press.

"I see the parties on two different paths because the promises and the agreements are not being fulfilled," said Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a lawmaker for his party.

Musharraf purged the Supreme Court during a short period of emergency rule in November.

Zardari and Sharif pledged to bring back the judges quickly after routing Musharraf's allies in February elections.

But a debate on how to solve Pakistan's constitutional mess quickly bogged down in political calculations, including whether U.S. ally Musharraf should face trial.

Sharif says Zardari reneged on a written agreement to restore the judges within 24 hours of Musharraf's Aug. 18 decision to quit rather than face impeachment charges.

Zardari has accused the judges of being too political, and analysts say he may also fear that the justices could reopen old graft cases against him.

Over the weekend, Zardari played down the importance of fulfilling his accords with Sharif.

"These are not the words of the Quran," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Urdu language service in an interview posted on its Web site. In politics, "there can be a rethink on anything."

He said his party would try to keep Sharif on board, but refused to give any timeframe for the return of the judges.

In protest, Sharif's party on Sunday boycotted a meeting of a committee supposed to draw up resolution on the judges to be introduced in parliament, saying it was no longer relevant.

Zardari's party formally nominated him for the presidency on Saturday and analysts say he looks assured of victory.

Zahid Khan, a spokesman for the Awami National Party, the third largest in the coalition, said Sunday that his party had decided to support Zardari.

A major opposition party has also backed his candidacy, showing that Zardari can turn to new allies to keep control of the government and avert new elections, even if Sharif withdraws.

Sharif said a day earlier that his party would only back Zardari for president if the post was stripped of key powers accumulated by Musharraf, such as the right to dissolve Parliament and appoint the chiefs of Pakistan's powerful military.

Pakistan's political uncertainty has deepened amid a growing conflict between security forces and Islamic militants.

Twin suicide bombers killed 67 people outside a weapons factory near the capital on Thursday. Since then, at least 50 people have died in clashes in the Swat valley and near the town of Hangu.

On Sunday, a senior official rejected a Taliban cease-fire offer in Bajur, a region next to the Afghan border where fighting in recent weeks has reportedly killed hundreds and prompted more than 200,000 to flee their homes.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar told the AP by telephone that militants were offering a cease-fire because tribal elders had assured them the government was ready to halt military operations.

But Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said the militants need to "come to the capital and lay down their arms."

In Bajur, residents found the decapitated body of an alleged spy near the main town of Khar.

Fazl Rabbi, a local security official, said residents found the corpse on Saturday, its head balanced on its chest and a note in one hand that read "This is the fate for those spying on Taliban."

Associated Press writers Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Habib Khan in Munda contributed to this report.