Court hears Musharraf challenges

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Pakistan's reformed Supreme Court has begun hearing challenges to Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president and emergency rule.

Two newly constituted groups of judges are hearing two petitions on the re-election and two on the emergency.

Correspondents say he is expected to win the cases after changing the make-up of the court when he declared the emergency on 3 November.

Gen Musharraf sacked several judges who had shown judicial independence.

The hearings come a day after senior US envoy John Negroponte urged Gen Musharraf to lift emergency rule and free opponents ahead of elections due in January.

Gen Musharraf has insisted the emergency can only be lifted once the security situation improves.

Lack of confidence

The legal challenge to Gen Musharraf's re-election is being heard by a new 10-member bench of the Supreme Court. Most judges on the previous bench refused to take an oath after the declaration of emergency rule.

The main petitioner, retired judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, has expressed his lack of confidence in the new judges and says he will not present his case before it.

A separate six-member bench of judges will hear two petitions challenging the rule of emergency.

The case came up before a nine-member bench last week, but three of the judges declined to sit on the bench.

They said their recent judgements were quoted by Gen Musharraf in support of his decision to impose emergency.

Gen Musharraf has promised to step down as army chief once the Supreme Court validates his new term as president.