Islamabad: Faced with a fresh challenge, President Pervez Musharraf went into a huddle with close aides and constitutional experts today after the PPP and PML-N decided to reinstate the judges sacked by him during emergency.

Some of the judges, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, were hearing petitions challenging Musharraf's re-election in uniform before they were deposed during emergency last year. Though the new Supreme Court comprising Musharraf's hand-picked judges validated his re-election, legal experts believe the deposed judges could reopen that case once they are restored.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who finalised arrangements to form a coalition government yesterday, have committed themselves to reinstating the deposed judges by passing a resolution in the National Assembly within 30 days of assuming power.

Musharraf chaired a meeting of his close aides, including National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz, Attorney General Malik Qayyum and constitutional expert Sharifuddin Pirzada, at his camp office in Rawalpindi to evolve a strategy to deal with any situation that could arise from the reinstatement of the deposed judges.

The meeting also discussed the prevailing political situation and the fixing of a date for convening the new National Assembly, Dawn News channel quoted official sources as saying.

Source : PTI