Q+A - Why is judge Chaudhry so important in Pakistan?
By Simon Cameron-Moore
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari surrendered on Monday to demands by opposition parties and a lawyers' movement for the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice.
The president was forced into the decision in order to end a political crisis and street agitation threatening to destabilise his government, unnerving U.S. and British allies who fear any slide into chaos could increase the threat from Islamist militancy in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
The Chaudhry affair is a long and complex story; here is an explanation:
WHO IS CHAUDHRY?
The son of a policeman, Chaudhry, 60, became a Supreme Court judge in 2000 and was appointed the youngest ever chief justice in June 2005.
He became a symbol of resistance to General Pervez Musharraf after refusing to quit in the face of pressure from the then president and his intelligence chiefs.
Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9, 2007, after the judge refused to go quietly when accused of abusing his position, and various other misdemeanours.
A panel of judges was established to look into the accusations against Chaudhry, who appointed Aitzaz Ahsan, a parliamentarian and former minister from Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), to lead his defence team. Continued...
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