Musharraf to fight impeachment bid

PAKISTAN: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will defend himself against impeachment, aides said Friday, a day after the ruling coalition vowed to launch proceedings to drive the key US ally from power.

Musharraf was set to meet his top legal and political advisers to discuss his dwindling options in the face of the most serious challenge to the former general's position since he seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999.

The spectre of impeachment is set to deepen the political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation - with the manoeuvres open to Musharraf including dissolving parliament or even declaring a state of emergency.

"He is considering the options that are available. He will respond to the government's allegations and defend himself," a presidential aide told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Key Musharraf ally Mushahid Hussain said his party would back the president.

"We will prepare a case, the president should be there (in parliament) and defend himself, and at least say 'I am not a crook,'" said Hussain, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.

Coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari - the widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto - and Nawaz Sharif announced on Thursday that they would seek Musharraf's impeachment for allegedly mismanaging the country.

Officials said parliament could begin the impeachment process by filing a charge sheet against the president as early as Monday, which is also Musharraf's 65th birthday.

The aide said however that Musharraf would "not wait for the numbers game" - meaning that he would not indulge in political horsetrading to stop the coalition getting the votes it needs.

Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament under Pakistan's constitution. It would be the first time in Pakistan's 61-year history that a president has been impeached.

Another Musharraf ally said the coalition could not get enough votes to support impeachment. Islamabad, Friday, AFP