Pakistan judges' deadline looms

The two leaders have still to hammer out a deal

Pakistan's governing coalition is facing a deadline to decide on the reinstatement of judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf.

Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif's party wants a decision from its ally, led by Asif Ali Zardari, on reappointing the judges.

Mr Sharif's party is also unhappy that Mr Zardari plans to run for president.

A BBC correspondent in Islamabad says that although Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari have been short-term partners, they remain long-term rivals.

Mr Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wants judges dismissed last year by the former president to be reinstated on Monday.

Otherwise, he has warned, his party will leave the coalition.

Mr Sharif is also unhappy about the decision of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to nominate Mr Zardari to be the next president.

Intense rivalry

Mr Zardari's party fears that if former Supreme Court judges, including ex-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, are reinstated, they could overturn a controversial amnesty that Mr Musharraf granted Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto last year that paved the way for them to return to the country.

That would open up Mr Zardari to prosecution on long-standing corruption charges.

The coalition was elected in February but analysts say it has failed to find solutions to Pakistan's economic crisis and to the militants in its north-western tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Mr Musharraf, a key ally of the US President George Bush's "war on terror", stepped down last week after nine years in power to avoid being impeached.

He sacked about 60 Supreme Court judges during a state of emergency in November to prevent them from overturning his re-election as president.

Analysts say that although the PPP and PML-N worked together to hound Mr Musharraf from office, there is a history of intense rivalry and mistrust between the two main parties.

The parties differ over the future of Mr Musharraf, who has been replaced by a caretaker president, the speaker of the Senate.

Mr Zardari's party has said it believes Mr Musharraf may have immunity from prosecution.

But Mr Sharif's party argues he should stand trial for, among other things, abrogating the constitution.

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