Reply #9: Musharraf rebuffed as Pakistan judge back in office

[Ghost Dog]

Source: AFP http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070721023559.8uw1q9jj.html
21/07/2007 02h40

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's top judge began his first full day back in office Saturday after a court rebuffed his suspension by under-fire President Pervez Musharraf, a verdict hailed by key ally Washington.

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's Supreme Court victory on Friday sparked scenes of jubilation in several cities, with lawyers dancing and shouting "Go, Musharraf, go" outside the house of the man who has become an opposition hero.

The decision piled pressure on Musharraf as the country reels from a week of bloody suicide bombings following the storming of the militant Red Mosque in Islamabad, and ahead of elections due early 2008 at the latest.

The military ruler, who grabbed power in a coup in 1999, will now likely find it more difficult to push through possible changes to the constitution to allow him to retain his dual posts as president and army chief.

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