Pakistan Top Judge Rules Out Military Takeover
Pakistan's top judge on Friday ruled out any possibility of a military coup as the Supreme Court deliberated a scandal that has significantly escalated tensions between the government and the military.
"Rest assured... in this country there is no question of (military) takeover because the people trust the apex court now," said Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, while hearing petitions calling for an investigation into the scandal.
The hearing reconvened one day after embattled Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani delivered an unprecedented tirade against Pakistan's powerful military and accused "conspirators" of plotting to bring down his government.
A nine-judge panel headed by Chaudhry is deliberating whether to order an investigation into allegations that a close aide of the president wrote asking for U.S. help to prevent a feared coup and reign in the military's power in May.
Rampant speculation has refused to die that President Asif Ali Zardari could be forced out of office over the scandal and a recent illness, despite his return to the capital following two weeks of medical treatment in Dubai.
On Thursday, Gilani said the military could not be "a state within a state". The armed forces have carried out three coups in Pakistan and are considered the chief arbiter of power in the country of 174 million.
"We assure that nothing will occur and only the constitutional order will prevail," Chaudhry told the court, speaking in English.
The memo was submitted to then chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on May 10, calling for U.S. intervention to prevent a feared military coup in exchange for overhauling Pakistan's security leadership.
American businessman Mansoor Ijaz has claimed that Zardari feared the military might overthrow his government and accused Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, of crafting the memo with the president's support.
ISI spymaster General Ahmed Shuja Pasha said last week that Ijaz had enough evidence to back up his allegations and called for a "forensic examination" of how the memo came to be written.
Haqqani denies any involvement, but was forced to resign last month and the court has put restrictions on him leaving Pakistan.
Zardari, who is immune from prosecution as long as he remains head of state, has not replied in person to the Supreme Court.
The 56-year-old president flew to Dubai on December 6 and was kept in the American Hospital until December 14 for an illness that has not been disclosed, but which aides have likened to a "mini stroke" with no lasting damage.
Any decision from the Supreme Court to investigate the memo would build significant pressure on the president, with most observers expecting elections sometime in 2012 -- before Zardari's mandate ends in February 2013.
Chaudhry added to speculation that it will decide to order an investigation by saying: "the chief of the army staff has shown trust in the supreme court" and pointing out that Pasha also said the matter should be probed.
The hearing was adjourned until December 27.
Source: Agence France Presse
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