The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan's purged Supreme Court swatted away the main challenges to Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president Monday, taking him a step closer to quitting as army chief and restoring civilian rule.

Stripped of hostile judges by Musharraf under a state of emergency after he feared it would rule he was ineligible for another five-year term, the new-look top court took just over two hours to throw out the cases. Musharraf has promised to hang up his uniform -- one of the key demands of the opposition and the international community -- as soon as his victory in last month's presidential election is validated.

"There were five petitions, they have all been dismissed. There is only one left, and that will be heard on Thursday," attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum told AFP after a hearing from which international media were banned.

The party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto earlier said it was withdrawing its own challenge against Musharraf's presidency as it did not recognise the new court. At the same time, former premier Bhutto was meeting the US ambassador to Pakistan after Washington urged her and Musharraf to restart power-sharing talks broken off after he declared emergency rule.

After last week calling on Musharraf to quit and vowing never to work with him in government, Bhutto said she saw little hope of resuming the talks that had enabled her to return to the country last month. "We are not going back to the former track," she told reporters.