Karachi, March 27 (IANS) As street protests continued across Pakistan, a former Supreme Court chief justice has offered to work for a "political settlement" to end the turmoil over the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

"We all want an amicable solution to this problem in the larger interest of the country and its people," Sajjad Ali Shah told Daily Times, adding that he was willing to play a part.

Neither side has approached him, said Shah, who resigned as chief justice towards the end of his term amid controversy during Nawaz Sharif's government in 1997.

Shah pointed out that the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) were likely to continue for a long time.

"Such a scenario might be a positive development from the government's standpoint, but this is full of grave risks for the stability of the country because there are always two sides to a coin," he said.

According to him, the government and Justice Chaudhry could reach a compromise outside SJC.

Withdrawal of the reference and the restoration of Chaudhry as chief justice could be the best solution, he said. "Or the government should work out a suggestion acceptable to Justice Chaudhry and the lawyers representing him."

But prospects of a breakthrough remain grim. "Our demands, which include withdrawal of the presidential order and restoration of the chief justice, are non-negotiable," said Munir A. Malik, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Meanwhile, Asma Jahangir, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), made light of Chaudhry's concern for the "disappeared".

His "pro-active" role in issuing notices to the government on the issue of 199 missing people, allegedly held illegally by intelligence agencies, is speculated as one of the reasons for the Musharraf regime being angry with him.

Jahangir told Newsweek: "As far as the missing people are concerned, Chaudhry has not given a single judgment on it. He kept the Human Rights Commission's petition pending for one-and-a-half months. But since we are lawyers of renown, it is very difficult for any judge to kick us around - he had to hear it. But he went at it very slowly. He did give a notice to the government, but he really didn't give a judgment. There was not a single time when he said that those who kept these people should be brought to justice. All he was doing was saying to the government, 'Let's find some people'."

Asked why Musharraf acted against Chaudhry, Jahangir said: "Insecure dictators see ghosts everywhere. This is not the first time it has happened. He forced the Supreme Court justices to swear a loyalty oath to him when he came in. He's insecure. Not only does he want a pliant judiciary, he wants a totally subservient one. But it's very difficult in 2007 to have that with today's free media and the independent bar."

Jahangir doubted Musharraf's claims that he was only following procedure - that Chaudhry's suspension was his standard reaction to the charges against the chief justice.

"The president has tried once again to lie and to mislead everybody. His move is not as casual and simple as he puts it. It was obviously preplanned," she said.