Meeting on Pakistan judges issue

The coalition is running out of time to resolve the issue

The top leaders of Pakistan's governing coalition are due to meet in London for talks on the restoration of judges.

Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif and the leader of the Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari have already held talks in Dubai on the issue.

After those talks, Mr Sharif announced that all the senior judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf last year would be reinstated on 12 May.

The issue has threatened to split the coalition.

Mr Sharif's party has campaigned for the unconditional reinstatement of the judges.

Mr Zardari has been wanting the reinstatement of the judges to be part of a larger package of constitutional amendments which would include reducing their powers.

The judges were dismissed when President Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November.

Supreme Court judges had been due to rule on whether his re-election was legal.

They had also been due to rule on a controversial amnesty covering Mr Zardari and his wife Benazir Bhutto, who was later assassinated.