Pakistani court to decide on Musharraf eligibility

Islamists chanting slogans against Pakistan’s military leader rallied outside the Supreme Court today as judges heard petitions challenging President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s right to contest presidential elections set for October 6.

Opposition parties have promised to stage anti-Musharraf street protests across Pakistan today, a day after the vote date was set.

They claim it would be illegal for the general, who seized power in a 1999 coup then allied Pakistan with the US-led war on terrorism, to run.

In Islamabad, about 100 supporters of Pakistan’s biggest religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, gathered outside the grand, white marble court house shouting “Go, Musharraf, Go!”

MP Hanif Abbasi told the protesters: “We will not tolerate Musharraf. We will continue our campaign against him.

“We will not tolerate him in or out of uniform.”

On Tuesday, Musharraf signalled that he would step down as army chief if he is re-elected president – restoring civilian rule eight years after he took power - but opposition parties say that for him to contest the election would still violate the constitution.

A nine-member bench of judges in the Supreme Court continued hearings of a slew of petitions today.