Pak coalition fails to agree on restoring judges: Sharif

Pakistan's ruling coalition has failed to agree on a plan to restore judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, but will reinstate them "soon," former premier Nawaz Sharif said yesterday.
Sharif, the head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, held two days of talks with Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, in a bid to thrash out details of the plan.
The issue is divisive because any move to bring back sacked chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry could lead to a direct stand-off with Musharraf, risking further instability in the militancy-hit, nuclear-armed nation.
"A resolution will soon be in the national assembly (lower house of parliament) for the restoration of the judges and the constitutional package will come later," Sharif said at a joint news conference with Zardari.
Asked about whether the coalition would also strip Musharraf of the power to dissolve parliament, he added: "I want it to be done quickly and he wants us to wait. I am showing patience."
The coalition partners defeated Musharraf's allies in elections in February and signed a pact early the following month pledging to restore the judges within 30 days of the new government taking power.
Zardari, who took over the leadership of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party after she was assassinated in December, said a committee of coalition members would examine how best to implement the deal.
He said he wanted a "broad-based" plan for the restoration of the judiciary, adding that he was in favour of "finding a commonality without any agitation."
Party insiders say the main division is over whether to leave Chaudhry out of the plan to restore the judges -- although there is even disagreement over when the 30-day period began.
Musharraf deposed the country's chief justice and dozens of other judges under a state of emergency in November, when it appeared the Supreme Court was about to overturn his re-election as president the month before.
If the chief justice is restored he could take up fresh challenges to Musharraf's position.
But a further problem is that he could also seek to overturn an amnesty deal made late last year that cleared Zardari of graft charges. The deal allowed Zardari and Bhutto to return home from exile last year.
New prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a key aide of Bhutto, freed Chaudhry and other judges from house arrest last month.
Meanwhile Pakistan freed a pro-Taliban cleric and quickly signed an accord with his hardline group Monday, the first major step by the new government to talk peace with Islamic militants and break with President Pervez Musharraf's policy of using force.
The day's developments began with the release of Sufi Muhammad, who is believed in his 70s, after more than five years in custody following his dispatch of thousands of followers to fight in Afghanistan.
A few hours later, the government of North West Frontier Province said Muhammad's group signed a pact renouncing violence in return for being allowed to peacefully campaign for Islamic law. Security forces have the right to "act against" any extremists who attack the government.
Analysts cautioned it would take time to judge the new approach, noting Musharraf also struck truces with some groups that US officials have complained gave Pakistani militants as well as Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters a chance to build up their strength.