Officials said that members of the coalition were putting the final touches to the charges at meetings on Sunday, amid pressure on Mr Musharraf to quit before the process begins.

'The charge sheet will be presented in parliament by Tuesday,' Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said.

His statement came a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Mr Musharraf had two days in which to resign to avoid impeachment proceedings.

Mr Musharraf's spokesman has repeatedly said that he will not quit.

But coalition officials and Musharraf's allies have said that talks are under way with the government to secure the president an indemnity from prosecution if he does stand down.

Saudi Arabia and reportedly the United States and Britain have all sent envoys in a bid to resolve the crisis in the nuclear-armed nation, a frontline state in the 'war on terror'.

No president has been impeached before in Pakistan's 61-year history.

But Mr Musharraf's spokesman has repeatedly insisted that the former army chief, who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, has no intention of quitting.

Allies have said that he will defend himself against any charges.

The coalition is counting on independents and defectors from Mr Musharraf's camp to win the two-thirds combined majority it would need in the upper and lower houses of parliament to impeach him.

Mr Musharraf's other courses of action - either dissolving the national assembly or imposing a state of emergency, as he did last November to stop legal challenges to his re-election - are fraught with risk.

The support of the powerful army would be essential to take either step, and while analysts say the military wants to avoid the humiliation of his impeachment, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has so far kept silent.

The United States has also taken a neutral stance, refraining from commenting on newspaper reports this week that Mr Musharraf was on the verge of throwing in the towel.

'We've seen the press reports you're referring to, but these are all matters for the Pakistani political system and for the Pakistanis to deal with,' said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Friday.

Pakistan's rulers have however appeared divided since finally agreeing on August 7 to launch impeachment proceedings, following months of paralysis in the face of huge economic problems and Islamist violence.

Mr Sharif, who was ousted in Musharraf's coup nine years ago then jailed for a year and sent into exile, said earlier this week that his arch-foe had violated the constitution and should get 'no safe exit'.

The government will be keen to resolve the impasse so it can deal with the fight against Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where nearly 500 people have died in the past week.

It also needs to tackle soaring inflation and widespread power cuts.

Analysts said the situation was being watched anxiously at home and abroad.

'The instability is of course causing concerns in Pakistan but it is also not in the interest of Pakistan's western allies,' said Ms Farzana Shaikh, a Pakistan expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House. -- AFP