The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Islamabad

A senior ally of Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad says the Pakistani president is not about to quit.

He said that's the case even though Musharraf's opponents are set to form a new government and reinstate judges who questioned his continued rule.

Tariq Azim, a former minister, predicted the incoming government will gradually ease its rhetoric and form a working relationship with Musharraf.

According to Azim, the anti-Musharraf parties will have to accept that the U.S.-backed leader "is not going anywhere," despite their calls for him to step down.

AFP report adds: President Pervez Musharraf huddled with key aides on Monday after Pakistan's main opposition parties agreed to form a coalition and reinstate the judges he sacked last year, officials said.

Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif signed a coalition pact on Sunday following last month's general elections in which they trounced Musharraf's allies.

In a major blow to Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror", they also agreed to bring back, within the first 30 days of the new parliament, the judges ousted by the president during emergency rule last November.

The dismissed judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Musharraf's arch-foe, could take up legal challenges to Musharraf's re-election as president in October if they are restored.

Government officials said Musharraf was "meeting legal aides" at his office in the garrison city of Rawalpindi but did not give details on what was discussed.

Private television channels said it was a "strategy meeting" including legal and constitutional advisers.

Musharraf has come under pressure from Sharif and supporters of the sacked judges to step down following the drubbing of his political backers in the February 18 parliamentary polls.

Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 but his grip on power weakened last year when he stepped down as army chief under intense domestic and international pressure.

His political troubles began almost exactly a year ago when he first tried to oust chief justice Chaudhry, citing alleged misconduct by the judge.