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Chaudhry sought power, spy chief says

Pakistan's top judge wanted President Pervez Musharraf to dissolve the government and install him as head of an interim regime several months before his ouster, the country's military intelligence director said yesterday.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whose sacking by Musharraf set off a national political crisis, also wanted the secret services to supply him with information about other judges, Major General Nadeem Ijaz said in an affidavit.

The statement was one of three filed in the Supreme Court yesterday by officials who were present when military ruler Musharraf sacked Chaudhry on March 9.

The statements are the government's response to Chaudhry's claim that he was intimidated by Musharraf and military generals who wanted him to resign, but that he refused.

MEETING

Ijaz, whose organization is one of Pakistan's three main spy agencies, said that Chaudhry asked him to come for a meeting a few months ago at which he started discussing the internal political situation.

"He was of the view that the president should dissolve the assemblies as they were becoming a nuisance and hold elections under the CJP [Chief Justice of Pakistan]," Ijaz said in the affidavit, a copy of which AFP has seen.

In Pakistan the president must dissolve parliament and the senate before calling elections, which are held under an interim administration.

"He wanted me to assure all concerned that he will make things very smooth," once he was put in power, Ijaz said.

He said Chaudhry "used to task him on a regular basis to provide information on judges in Punjab [province] so he could build a database for his own reference."

Musharraf's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Hamid Javed, and Intelligence Bureau director retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah also filed statements yesterday.

Chaudhry's suspension has sparked the biggest political crisis since General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, as well as political violence that has left 40 people dead.

Opposition leaders say Musharraf ousted the independent-minded judge to remove legal hurdles to his bid to remain army chief past the end of this year, when he is constitutionally obliged to quit the post.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are also expected late this year.

Chaudhry is appealing against his suspension over allegations of nepotism and misconduct, which he denies.

Chaudhry on May 29 filed an affidavit saying that he was not allowed to leave Musharraf's army house for six hours on March 9 and that he was virtually kept under house arrest till March 13.

The judge said military intelligence chief Ijaz confronted him after he refused to step down and told him: "This is a bad day, now you are taking a separate way."

Ijaz denied this.

"Nothing discourteous was said by anyone during these discussions ... No demands were made," he said in his statement.

CENSORSHIP

Shah said Chaudhry had asked him earlier this year to help in "suppressing" media reports about his alleged misconduct.

Musharraf, meanwhile, was due to address the nation, perhaps yesterday, government officials said, when he was expected to set out his position on Chaudhry's suspension.

The address would come hard on the heels of the detention of hundreds of opposition activists and a clampdown on the broadcast media.

Opposition parties pushing for the restoration of democracy were due to hold protests yesterday while the government was also expected to face criticism in parliament, which began a new session on Wednesday.

The News newspaper said Musharraf told ruling party members of parliament they were failing to come to his support.

"I bluntly say you always leave me alone in times of trial and tribulation," the paper, citing unidentified participants at the Wednesday meeting, quoted Musharraf as saying.

"I see the party nowhere. You people are not mobilized," he was quoted as telling ruling Pakistan Muslim League members.
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