Pakistan's ruling coalition said yesterday that it would impeach President Pervez Musharraf, posing the biggest threat to the key US ally in the "war on terror" since he seized power in a 1999 coup.

The landmark agreement came after three days of marathon talks between coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, another ex-premier. FROM PAGE 1

"We have good news for democracy," Zardari said at a joint news conference with Sharif in Islamabad. The coalition believes it is imperative to move for impeachment against General Musharraf."

The government had summoned the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, to sit on August 11 and could begin the impeachment proceedings then, a senior coalition official said earlier.

Musharraf cancelled a trip to Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games and his place will be taken by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the foreign ministry said shortly after news of the impeachment plan emerged.

Musharrafs allies have previously said he would fight any attempt to topple him, and a presidential source said he was consulting close aides onThursday to discuss a course ofaction.

"The president's options are either to issue an order dissolving the national assembly or impose emergency rule, under which the government will be suspended and a new caretaker set-up would be announced." the source told AFP

Musharraf, a former commando, ruled nuclear-armed Pakistan relatively untroubled for eight years with tlie backing of the United States, which has counted him as a key ally since the September 11 attacks.

But his popularity slumped after he ousted the country's chief justice and imposed a state of emergency in November 2007 to prevent any

challenges to his re-election as president.

Musharraf stepped down as army chief that month, and the parties of Bhutto and Sharif subsequently trounced his allies in general elections in February.

Coalition sources said the agreement to impeach came when Sharif assured Zardari that he could count on the support of some former PML-N members who are currently in a pro-Musharraf party.

The Pakistani constitution says a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament combined is necessary to impeach a sitting president, although it has never been done before in the country's history.

The sources said a charge sheet on Musharrafs position and performance as president would be drawn up and submitted to parliament to be signed by at least half of all MPs in the coming days.

The speaker of the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, would then notify Musharraf and ask him to defend his position within seven to 15 days, they said.

The coalition had been split by the twin issues of what to do about Musharraf and how to carry out their pledge to reinstate the judges.

Tlie rift had effectively paralysed the government, which is under huge US pressure over its efforts to negotiate with Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. It is also facing public anger overrisingfood and fuel prices.