Top court clears way for Musharraf

Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday threw out a final challenge to President Pervez Musharraf's reelection and paved the way for him to quit as army chief.

The long-awaited ruling comes as Musharraf faces the prospect of Pakistan's second suspension from the Commonwealth since he took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, because he continues to resist calls to fully lift emergency rule imposed on November 3.

"Dismissed," Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar said after hearing the petition, the sixth and final challenge to Musharraf's October 6 reelection to be thrown out by the court.