(AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - Saudi Arabia is ready to offer Pakistan's sacked chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, shelter in the kingdom, Pakistani government sources told Adnkronos International (AKI). High-level sources told AKI, on condition of anonymity, that this was discussed when the Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Awaz Al Asiri, called on the deposed chief justice at his residence in the capital Islamabad on Friday. They said that the meeting was set up by the Pakistani government.Al Asiri is believed to have invited Chaudhry and his family to make the Haj or Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, this year. The Haj is scheduled to take place this month. Al Asiri is also believed to have offered Chaudhry and his family a prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia. Sources within the Saudi consulate in Karachi, on the condition of anonymity, also confirmed to AKI the offer of shelter to Chaudhry and said that the government of Saudi Arabia had tried to bring stability to Pakistan.
Chaudhry was sacked as chief justice after President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on 3 November, citing rising extremism and an unruly judiciary. The former head of the Supreme Court was placed under house arrest. While opposition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was prevented from meeting Chaudhry on Thursday, just a day later Al Asiri was allowed to meet him.
It is believed that the potential deal would help break the deadlock within opposition parties who are divided on whether to contest the January general elections if the sacked judges are not reinstated. A Saudi-brokered deal would be a face-saving gesture for Chaudhry and the entire opposition who need to deal with Musharraf's government and also support an independent judiciary to gain public support.