By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Despite huge protests in Pakistan over the suspension of its top judge, Washington does not think its ally President Pervez Musharraf will be toppled because of the case, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States had made clear to Pakistan's government it must take the utmost care in the judge's case, otherwise it could be viewed as politically motivated.

"We are concerned, we are watching it carefully. We want them to proceed very carefully and we will follow this turn by turn," said the official.

"Allegations against the chief justice are serious and can be easily misconstrued as political," he added.

The suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9 outraged Pakistan's legal community and triggered Musharraf's biggest political crisis, raising concern about stability before elections due around the end of the year.

The move to sack Chaudhry led to suspicion Musharraf feared the independent-minded judge would block any attempt by the president to keep the post of army chief, which he is due to give up this year.

The government has released no details of the accusations against Chaudhry but a state news agency cited "misconduct and misuse of authority."

"I don't think it's too much of a question of being toppled or serious unrest in the country," said the U.S. official when asked whether the United States was worried Musharraf could be ousted because of the case.

Asked whether he feared the protests would increase as the election drew closer, he replied: "I don't see any signs of that. Again part of it will depend on how it is handled."

He also said it was too early to say whether Musharraf's motives in the case were political.

"It is hard to render a judgment on the whole process until one sees charges and information presented."

Musharraf is a close U.S. ally in fighting terrorism and the United States has pushed hard for him to work toward a democratic transition.

The official said U.S. policy was to continue supporting Pakistan's efforts to be a moderate, democratic nation.

"As long as he is heading in that direction, we will work with him," he added of Musharraf.

The State Department's own human rights report released this month pointed to Pakistan's "poor" human rights record.

The report noted the disappearance of activists and political opponents and extrajudicial killing by security forces. In addition, it said corruption was pervasive throughout the government and security forces.

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