Sharif again threatens to pull out over judges

Talking tough, former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party has warned that it will have to rethink its support to the ruling PPP if the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf last year are not reinstated by the end of next month.

“It will be difficult to continue on this path indefinitely. We want the (judges') issue to be resolved in four to six weeks, either this way or that way,” said senior PML(N) leader Ahsan Iqbal, whose party withdrew its ministers from the cabinet in May after the government failed to meet two self-imposed deadlines to reinstate the judges.

Iqbal told the influential Dawn newspaper that the PML-N is keen to keep intact the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party but it is getting difficult to continue to support the government without the reinstatement of the deposed judges. The PML-N is under pressure to take a clear stand on the issue and a meeting of the party's leadership to decide its future course of action is likely to be held after Sharif returns from a visit to London, he said.His comments came close on the heels of a decision by the PPP to go for a cabinet expansion after failing to persuade the PML-N to return to the council of ministers. Sharif is currently in London with his wife, who is recuperating after a surgery.