Pakistan coalition partner quits cabinet over judges

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday his party members would resign their cabinet posts after the failure to break a deadlock with his main coalition partner over the reinstatement of deposed judges.

"Today is May 12. We were bound by this date," Sharif told a news conference referring to a Monday deadline he set with his main coalition partner, the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, for judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf to be reinstated.

"Our ministers will meet the prime minister tomorrow and will submit their resignations ... But we will not become part of any conspiracy to destabilise the democratic process," he said.

(Reporting by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel)