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 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's military ruler said he will not declare a state of emergency or delay elections amid a growing crisis over his removal of the Supreme Court's independent-minded chief justice.
In a television interview broadcast late Monday, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf defended his suspension of the justice on March 9 over unspecified allegations that the judge had abused his authority.
Critics claim Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and serves as both army chief and president, sought to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections because legal challenges to his rule could have been brought to the Supreme Court.
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