Pakistan reinstates judges sacked by Musharraf but Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry

 by Mark Tran and agencies Friday September 05 2008 14:44 BST. Pakistan today reinstated three supreme court judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf, the former president who was forced to resign last month.

It was Musharraf's decision last year to sack the judges, including the outspoken chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry, that precipitated the political crisis leading to his political demise. Farooq Naek, the law minister, said the three judges purged during emergency rule last November were sworn back in to the court today. But Naek said that Chaudhry, who is seen as a symbol of resistance to Musharraf, was not reinstated. The reappointment of the supreme court has been a source of disagreement between Pakistan's two biggest political blocs, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) formerly led by the assassinated Benazir Bhutto and now by her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, and the Muslim League Party (N), headed by Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister overthrown by Musharraf in 1999. Zardari is expected to be voted in as the country's next president tomorrow by members of the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies. Zardari, who spent 11 years in jail on corruption and other charges but was never convicted, is seen as close to the US and has repeatedly stressed his commitment to the fight against Islamist militants. But he will take office amid widespread anger at the US after a bloody incursion by US ground troops into a remote village on the Afghan border this week. Musharraf saw his popularity plummet in part because he was viewed as too close to the Americans. Zardari faces a difficult balancing act as he tries to assure the US of his commitment against radicalism while proving his nationalist credentials at home.  His two rivals for president are Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, a former judge, nominated by Sharif's party, and Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a senior official of the party that backed Musharraf and ruled under him. But the PPP has the most electoral college votes and despite some doubts about Zardari's suitability, party members are likely to stick by him.