Musharraf plans impeachment defense

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will not resign and is planning to put up a strong defense against impeachment charges, his supporters say.

Musharraf will face impeachment after eight years in office on grounds including his imposition of emergency rule and the firing of nearly 60 judges last November as well as alleged mismanagement of the economy. He is expected to argue that he is not corrupt, unlike his leading critics, reported The International Herald Tribune Saturday.

"He will say: 'Look here, I've been in office for eight years. I've made some mistakes but at least I am not a crook. I have no foreign bank accounts, no properties abroad, unlike the opposition leaders who are gunning for me,"' said Musharraf backer Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.

Hussain predicted Musharraf would point to the difference between himself and his critics Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the majority party in the coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, and Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N. In the 1990s, both Zardari and Sharif faced corruption charges in Pakistan.

Musharraf's opponents have called a Monday session of the National Assembly to start the impeachment process.