Court reinstates judge removed by Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s highest court dealt President Pervez Musharraf the biggest political blow of his eight years in power yesterday, blocking the U.S.-allied general from removing the country’s chief justice.

The surprise decision to throw out Gen. Musharraf’s case against the jurist spurred new demands from democracy campaigners that the president step down, clouding his future just as Pakistan faces a surge in violence by Islamic militants.

Gen. Musharraf said he would respect the decision, but analysts said Pakistan could be in for turbulent times if he sticks with his drive to stay in power.

In its landmark ruling, Supreme Court judges ruled unanimously that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry be restored to his post and voted 10-3 to quash charges of misconduct that the president filed against the justice before a separate judicial tribunal.

The reach of the rulings was a surprise. Many Pakistanis had expected the court to reinstate Justice Chaudhry but let the tribunal’s investigation continue, and the verdict was widely hailed as a democratic breakthrough for a country dominated by the military for most of its 60-year history.

It was seen as strengthening the independence of the courts, which are expected to hear challenges to Gen. Musharraf’s plan for seeking a new five-year presidential term from outgoing lawmakers rather than wait for parliamentary elections in January.

Critics also oppose Gen. Musharraf holding the dual posts of president and chief of the military, as he has since seizing power in a 1999 coup.

Cheers from lawyers who have led mass protests against Gen. Musharraf reverberated around the high-roofed Supreme Court chamber after presiding Judge Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday announced that Justice Chaudhry’s suspension was “illegal” and set aside the charges against him.

In accepting the verdict, Gen. Musharraf gave no indication of his next move.

“The president respects the decision of the Supreme Court,” his spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was quoted as telling the state-run news agency. “The president has stated earlier that any judgment the Supreme Court arrives at will be honored, respected and adhered to.”

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the reinstatement “respects the rule of law” and he praised the fact that the high court is “capable of making independent decisions.”

Gen. Musharraf’s defeat prompted jubilation at gatherings of lawyers in major cities, including Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta, Peshawar and Rawalpindi.

Outside the court in Islamabad, Justice Chaudhry’s lead attorney, Aitzaz Ahsan, said the chief justice’s reinstatement was “a victory for the entire nation.”

Lawyers swarmed him, chanting “Go, Musharraf, go.”

Since suspending Justice Chaudhry on March 9, Gen. Musharraf’s support has been crumbling among voters and his political allies.

However, more recently, Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation has overshadowed the judicial crisis. Suicide attacks, bombings and fighting between security forces and Islamic militants has killed about 290 people since clashes between the army and radicals in Islamabad’s Red Mosque broke out July 3.

In the latest violence, clashes broke out yesterday between Pakistani troops and militants in North Waziristan after a suicide car bomber hit a security checkpoint, killing four persons, officials said.

The attack on the outskirts of the main town of Miran Shah, which killed a soldier and three male civilians, came hours after a 45-member delegation of tribal elders began talks with pro-Taliban militant leaders to resurrect a contentious 2006 peace deal.

The government has attached high hopes to the success of the peace talks, despite criticism from the United States that it has allowed more freedom for al Qaeda to base itself at the frontier.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Thursday that the U.S. would not rule out striking against al Qaeda or the Taliban inside Pakistan, drawing Islamabad’s criticism.

“We remain determined not to allow al Qaeda or any other terrorist entity to establish a safe haven on our territory,” Reuters news agency quoted Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam as saying yesterday.

“Whatever counterterrorism action is to be taken inside Pakistan, it will be taken by our own security forces. This has been and remains the basis of our cooperation with the U.S.”