ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition met on Wednesday to discuss the threat of Islamic militancy and rifts over the restoration of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said.

The meeting is the second since the formation of the government four months ago, after slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and other groupings defeated Musharraf's allies in elections.

A split between the PPP and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N over the issue of the judges has effectively paralysed the coalition and stopped it tackling a spiralling economic crisis.

Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting in Islamabad, which was also attended by Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif's brother Shahbaz, officials said. Sharif himself was abroad.

Hardline cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, and Asfandyar Wali Khan, the head of the secular, ethnic Pashtun Awami National Party (ANP), also attended.

"The meeting reviewed ongoing military operations in tribal areas and the overall law and order situation in the country," Rehman told reporters after the meeting.

He said, "it was agreed that policy of dialogue be pursued in tribal regions instead of operations."

"It was also decided that no foreign power will be allowed to intervene in Pakistani territory," Rehman said, adding, "let it be known to global powers that we will never ever compromise on our sovereignty."

The government has been under international pressure since launching peace negotiations with Taliban commanders in March aimed at halting the fighting in the country's northwest.

Gilani, who is due to make his first trip to Washington later this week, called the meeting saying the leaders would discuss the threat posed by Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants near the Afghan border.

Sources in Sharif's party earlier said they would push their demand for the reinstatement of the chief justice and about 60 other senior judges, who were ousted by Musharraf under emergency rule in November last year.

"We will listen to what the government has to say on military operations in tribal areas, but there are other issues like the delay in the reinstatement of all judges and impeachment of Musharraf," a PML-N leader said.

The two main parties agreed to reinstate the judges when they originally formed the coalition in March, but have failed to agree on how to do it.

Sharif's party wants them brought back through an executive order by the prime minister. The PPP says it should come through a broader constitutional package that has to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Pakistan has seen an increase in militant activities in recent weeks after a relative lull in the first two months of the coalition government.

LIKE IT?  LET OTHERS KNOW