ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - NINE ministers from the party of former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif resigned on Tuesday over a dispute about the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, state TV said.

The ministers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at his office in Islamabad, the report said.

Mr Sharif announced on Monday his party would withdraw from the cabinet after coalition missed a Monday deadline to reinstate the judges sacked by General Musharraf last year under emergency rule.

The move could plunge Pakistan and its six-week-old government into a fresh political crisis, although Mr Sharif insisted the PML-N would continue to support Mr Gilani's government.

The ministers were sworn in on March 31 after Mr Sharif joined a coalition with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) following their massive victory over Gen Musharraf's allies in February 18 general elections.

Gen Musharraf, who came to power following a coup in 1999, deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and dozens of other judges in November when it appeared they might overturn his re-election as president the month before.

The judges were also to rule on a decree issued by Gen Musharraf granting amnesty to political leaders charged with corruption. PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Bhutto's widower, himself is a beneficiary of the law. -- AFP