Pakistan lawyers mull street protests

Musharraf, a stalwart U.S. ally, imposed emergency rule and purged the Supreme Court last year to halt legal challenges of his re-election.

A new coalition made up of his opponents took office six weeks ago and promised to reinstate the justices, casting doubt on Musharraf's political survival.

But the government has missed two self-imposed deadlines to do so and appears to be unraveling over the issue -a process that could accelerate in the face of protests.

Some 60 senior leaders of the country's powerful lawyers' movement gathered at the high court in the eastern city of Lahore to consider how to step up their yearlong protests in defense of the judiciary.

They have threatened to mount a "long march" on the capital, Islamabad. But it was unclear what decision they would make Saturday.

"We have decided in principal to intensify our ongoing movement," Ali Ahmad Kurd, a senior lawyer, said on his way into the meeting. "We just want the judges back in their offices. We are working for the supremacy of the law and the constitution."

The position taken by the lawyers could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan's political stability, just as the government faces mounting economic problems as well as Western pressure to tackle Islamic militancy.

The biggest party in the coalition, led by Asif Ali Zardari, insists it wants to restore the judges. But it has fallen out with its main partner, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, over just how to do it.

Sharif this week pulled his ministers from the Cabinet to protest the delay and said his party would support any lawyers' protests. Still, he vowed to support the government from the outside.