"If reinstated, Iftikhar will declare Musharraf's re-election illegal"

Washington, May 14 : Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Choudhry has said that if reinstated he would re-examine the legitimacy of the country's President Musharraf's second term beginning November 2007, and would declare it illegal.

Musharraf's second term was legalised by present Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who is regarded by lawyers as being "friendly" towards PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari, the New York Times reported.

There was a perception that Zardari had assured the Bush administration that Musharraf would be granted a "safe exit", and that the Americans feared that Musharraf would lose face if the judiciary is restored, the US daily quoted PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar as saying.

ANI