Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan [Images] will participate in the "long march" organised by the lawyers' movement to press for the reinstatement of judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf [Images].

The two leaders, who met in London [Images] on Monday, said it was the responsibility of the whole nation to join the campaign for the restoration of the deposed judges.

Sharif, who was in London to be with his ailing wife, and Khan, who spends the summer in Britain with his two sons, cut short their stay to return to Pakistan for the long march.

Talking to journalists, Khan attacked Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for "providing protection to Musharraf" while at the same time blocking the restoration of the judges to protect the National Reconciliation Ordinance that was issued by the President to scrap graft cases against PPP leaders.

Sharif did not make any reference to Zardari, but said his PML-N party had no plans to withdraw from the ruling coalition as this would allow forces opposed to democracy led by Musharraf to again start "playing their tricks".

The PML-N, Sharif said, has been exhorting the PPP to fulfil the mandate of the February 18 general election by restoring the judges and getting rid of Musharraf.

Lawyers set out from across Sindh and Balochistan provinces to join the "long march", which is set to begin in Lahore [Images] on Thursday. They will travel in a motorcade from Lahore to Islamabad to press for the restoration of the judges.

Khan said his Tehrik-e-Insaf party had several disagreements with the PML-N but the two parties "are bound by a common objective, which was restoration of the judiciary and the ouster of Musharraf".

He also criticized US President George W Bush [Images] for helping to sustain Musharraf in the Presidency while Sharif said he was at a loss to see how the US, which is promoting democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, was supporting dictatorship in Pakistan.

The two leaders said they expected the new administration, to be formed in the US after elections this year, to help the forces of democracy in Pakistan and refrain from encouraging dictators.

Khan said if Pakistan's ruling coalition had not started talks with tribes in the border areas, the country would have gone up in smoke by now.

"NATO should not pass its failure to control militancy in Afghanistan on Pakistan. They need to win minds and hearts, which they cannot as long as they remain in occupation. Without talks the so-called war on terror would never end," he said.