Musharraf defends government

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday defended a federal government decision to suspend the country's top judge, taken on March 9 earlier this year. The President, however, did not specify what the reasons were. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's suspension has outraged Pakistan's legal community, which sees it as an attack on the independence of the judiciary and has galvanised political opposition to President Pervez Musharraf. Several demonstrations have been held by lawyers across the country, many of which turned violent.