Pakistan coalition may split post-Musharraf - analysts

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Deadlock between Pakistan's coalition partners over the restoration of deposed judges has raised questions about the survival of the government that forced President Pervez Musharraf's resignation.

Musharraf, the former army chief and key ally of the United States in its campaign against terrorism, resigned as president of nuclear-armed Pakistan on Monday to avoid impeachment by the coalition government.

But the two main coalition partners, the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and that of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, are unnatural allies.

Bitter rivals during the 1990s, when Bhutto and Sharif alternated as prime minister, the parties were thrown together by their opposition to Musharraf. His departure could undermine the logic of their alliance, analysts said.

"The glue that was holding the coalition partners together was Mr Musharraf. Now that punching bag has gone," said Rashid Rehman, a former newspaper editor and analyst.

"Going by yesterday's deliberations, alarm has been raised," Rehman said, referring to a long meeting on Tuesday in which the two main parties failed to break their deadlock over the judges Musharraf fired last year.

Investors are watching nervously.

The crisis over Musharraf had already hurt financial markets in the country of 165 million people, and raised concern in Washington it distracted from efforts to tackle militants.