Musharraf 'will quit army soon'

President Musharraf has said he is committed to holding elections
Pakistan's attorney general says he expects President Pervez Musharraf to resign as army head before 1 December.
Gen Musharraf has promised to step down once the Supreme Court validates his new term as president - a decision is expected in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Gen Musharraf is finalising a new, caretaker government to run the country once the current parliament's term expires at midnight local time.

State television said an announcement was expected later on Thursday.

The interim government is expected to take Pakistan into parliamentary elections due in January.

It comes as the two main opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, say they have begun talks on forming an alliance.

Ms Bhutto, who is under house arrest in Lahore, says she has ruled out the possibility of sharing power with Gen Musharraf, who she accuses of taking Pakistan back towards military dictatorship.

The Supreme Court is to rule on whether Gen Musharraf's re-election last month was legal, and is also hearing a challenge to the emergency rule.

Correspondents say he is expected to win both cases after changing the make-up of the court when he declared the emergency on 3 November, sacking several judges who had shown judicial independence.

Media restrictions



Meanwhile, the international television channels BBC and CNN have returned to Pakistani screens, and two of the four main national news channels are back on air.

The government took the independent broadcast media off cable as part of strict curbs under the state of emergency.

Gen Musharraf had accused some broadcasters of adding to the political uncertainty that led to emergency rule.

The move to reinstate the services comes a day before an expected visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

The United States has strongly criticised Pakistan's clampdown on the media and on opposition activists.


BBC

Musharraf pours scorn on Bhutto

President Musharraf has appointed Mohammadmian Soomro as PM
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has hit out at opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and dismissed her hopes of coming to power in elections.

He said Ms Bhutto in fact feared the polls, set for January, because her party was unpopular and she would lose.

General Musharraf has been criticised after seizing emergency powers.

But he told the BBC it was judges and opposition politicians - not himself - who were trying to derail the political and democratic process in Pakistan.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Gen Musharraf demanded an explanation for his portrayal in the Western media in recent months.

"Did I go mad..? Or suddenly, my personality changed? Am I Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?" he asked.

"Have I done anything constitutionally illegal? Yes, I did it on 3 November," he said, referring to his imposition of emergency rule. "But did I do it before? Not once."

"Who is trying to derail the political and democratic process? Am I? Or is it some elements in the Supreme Court - the chief justice and his coterie... and now some elements in the political field?"

'Agitation'

He criticised former Prime Minister Bhutto, despite recent efforts by the two to form an alliance.

Gen Musharraf said she was "the darling of the West" but that "she would not like to go into an election because her party is not in a state to win at all".


Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest on Tuesday

"Therefore, I will certainly go for the election, in spite of any agitation by her. We will not allow her that," he said.

Ms Bhutto, who was released from house arrest on Friday, has said that she will meet other opposition leaders to discuss a boycott of January's assembly elections.

Gen Musharraf is due to meet US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Saturday to discuss the deepening political crisis.

Mr Negroponte arrived in Pakistan on Friday and spoke on the telephone to Ms Bhutto, telling her "moderate forces" should work together to get Pakistan back to democracy.

Hours earlier the former prime minister had been released from house arrest, imposed on Tuesday to stop her from leading a march to Islamabad.

The move was part of a huge clampdown that has seen thousands of people arrested since emergency rule was introduced on 3 November.

Ms Bhutto renewed her calls for President Musharraf to end emergency rule, and condemned the interim government sworn in on Friday to oversee polls.

"This caretaker government is an extension of the [governing PML-Q party] and is not acceptable," she said.

'Dashed hopes'

Washington had been hoping for Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf to work together to give his government more support in its fight against pro-Taleban extremists.

Anti-US protesters in Lahore
Some opposition supporters do not welcome Mr Negroponte's visit

But Ms Bhutto again appeared to rule this out.

"I can't see how I can team up with somebody who raises hopes and dashes them... He talked to me about a roadmap to democracy and imposed martial law," she said.

The US administration has made repeated calls for the emergency to be lifted and for Gen Musharraf to return the country to civilian rule.

Gen Musharraf says he will resign as head of the army once the Supreme Court has ratified his next term as president.

Apart from Ms Bhutto, some other leading figures were released from detention on Friday.

They include the country's most prominent rights activist, Asma Jahangir, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

BBC

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Devil-may-care

US tells Musharraf to step back

John Negroponte, 18 November 2007

Mr Negroponte urged Gen Musharraf to quit his army post swiftly
A senior US envoy has urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to lift emergency rule and free opponents ahead of elections due in January.

"Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections," said John Negroponte, a day after meeting the Pakistani leader.

Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule two weeks ago following growing opposition and unrest.

He has insisted it can only be lifted once the security situation improves.

Mr Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, said he had urged Gen Musharraf to stick to his pledge to step down as head of the army, and encouraged him to release political prisoners.

"Recent political actions against protesters, suppression of the media and the arrests of political and human rights leaders, runs directly counter to reforms that have been undertaken in recent years," he said.

However, the US envoy praised Gen Musharraf as a valued ally in the war on terror and welcomed the Pakistani leader's promise to hold elections on 9 January.


On Saturday an aide to Gen Musharraf said he had told Mr Negroponte that the constitution could only be restored when law and order had been re-imposed.

"He told the envoy that the emergency is meant to reinforce and strengthen the law enforcement apparatus in the fight against militancy and extremism," the aide told AFP news agency.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Mr Negroponte made it clear that the US did not accept Mr Musharraf's arguments for emergency rule.

He did not signal what kind of pressure might be brought to bear on the Pakistani leader, although American officials said he had raised the issue of cuts in aid to Pakistan.

'Brinkmanship'

Mr Negroponte is the most senior US official to have met Gen Musharraf since the imposition of emergency rule on 3 November.

He also met other high-ranking Pakistani officials and spoke to opposition leader Benazir Bhutto by phone.

Mr Negroponte said he had encouraged Gen Musharraf to resume power-sharing talks with Ms Bhutto.

Those talks broke down as Ms Bhutto threatened to lead mass protests against emergency rule, and was then placed under house arrest. She has now been released, but has appeared to rule out re-starting negotiations.(Siyaaaasat !!!!, dont worry)

"If steps were taken by both sides to move back towards the kind of reconciliation discussions they had been having previously, we think that could be very positive," Mr Negroponte said.

Talks could help "pull the political actors back from the atmosphere of brinksmanship and confrontation," (Pakistan mein bhi) he said.

BBC

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Devil-may-care

Pakistan court bulldozes through rulings for Musharraf

Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:58am EST

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court, packed with government-friendly judges since the imposition of emergency rule, dismissed on Monday the main challenges to President Pervez Musharraf's re-election last month.

Once the court clears Musharraf's October 6 victory, he has vowed to quit as army chief and become a civilian president, although he remains under fire from the opposition and Western allies for setting back democracy in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

A bench of 10 judges struck down the five main challenges to Musharraf's right to contest the election while still army chief. The sixth and final petition will be heard on Thursday.

"The notification of the president's election cannot be issued because a petition is still pending. Hopefully, it will be done after that," Attorney-General Malik Qayyum told Reuters.

Musharraf's main aim in taking emergency powers was to purge the Supreme Court of men he feared would annul his re-election.

The Karachi stock market's main index rebounded more than 350 points from lows following the court's action to end Monday 1.2 percent higher. It is still nearly 5 percent below pre-emergency levels, but 32 percent up since the start of the year.

During Monday's proceedings, judges warned lawyers they faced contempt charges and cancellation of their licenses if they persisted in challenging the legality of Musharraf's new bench.

"You're taking it lightly, but you don't know that your license can be cancelled and strict action can be taken against you," Justice Nawaz Abbasi told a lawyer acting for Wajihuddin Ahmed, a former chief justice, who had run against Musharraf.

On Sunday Musharraf said he was asking the Election Commission to call a parliamentary election on January 8.

"Inshallah (God willing), the general elections in the country would be held on January 8," the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Musharraf as saying.

But he gave no date for lifting the state of emergency, despite hearing from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Saturday that the election's credibility would suffer unless the emergency announced on November 3 was rolled back.

DISPARAGING

Negroponte, who left Pakistan on Sunday, was careful not to undermine General Musharraf, a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban. But he stuck to Washington's stated position that thousands of people detained in the last two weeks should be released and curbs on the media should be lifted.

Pakistani newspapers were disparaging of Negroponte's failure to back words with some kind of threat unless Musharraf complied.

"To see the U.S. stick it out on the wrong side of the fence will not win the latter any approval with the people of Pakistan," Dawn said in an editorial.

Negroponte said reconciliation was "very desirable" between moderate political forces, apparently referring to the breakdown of an understanding between Musharraf and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto for possible post-election power sharing.

U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson met Bhutto on Monday.

"I am meeting the former prime minister and other political leaders to confirm American interest in free, fair and transparent elections and to assure her and all others that we will do everything possible to ensure that the electoral process takes place," she told journalists at Bhutto's Karachi residence.

Bhutto said she was undecided whether to participate in polls she doubted would be fair. She ruled out further negotiations with Musharraf because of a lack of trust.

The other main opposition party led by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister ousted by Musharraf in 1999 and later sent into exile, was also considering boycotting the elections.

"If the United States gives him $10 billion and does not get him to do what it wants, how is it going to expect us to make him do what he does not want to do," Bhutto said.

FRONTIER FRAYING

Most U.S. aid that Pakistan has received since joining a war on terrorism in late 2001 has gone to its military. The New York Times reported on Sunday nearly $100 million had been earmarked to help Musharraf keep his nuclear arsenal secure in a country threatened by rampant militancy.

Musharraf said emergency rule would remain in place for longer to reinforce the fight against Islamist militants threatening Pakistan's stability and ensure security for polls.

Meantime, the army was expected to launch a major operation to crush a militant movement in Swat, a valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where hundreds of people have been killed in clashes with security forces in the past few weeks.

Around 80 people were killed in an outbreak of sectarian violence over the weekend in Parachinar, the main town in the Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, as the security situation in the frontier region continued to deteriorate.

(Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Roger Crabb)

© Reuters2007All rights reserved

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Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

Monday, Nov. 19, 2007

Court Clears Musharraf's Rule

By AP/PAUL HAVEN


(ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) — A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term — this time solely as a civilian president.

The opposition has denounced the new court, saying any decisions by a tribunal stripped of independent voices had no credibility. Musharraf purged the court on Nov. 3 when he declared emergency rule, days before the tribunal was expected to rule on his eligibility to serve as president.

The United States has put immense pressure on Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents jailed under the emergency before Pakistan's critical parliamentary election on Jan. 8.

Monday's court ruling could hasten Musharraf's decision to take off his army uniform. The general has said he would quit as armed forces commander by the end of the month, assuming he was given the legal go-ahead by the court to remain as president.

Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar dismissed three opposition petitions challenging Musharraf's victory in a disputed presidential election last month, saying two had been "withdrawn" because opposition lawyers were not present in court.

The third was withdrawn by a lawyer for the party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who suggested the court was illegitimate.

"We asked for (the case) to be postponed because we said there is no constitution," she told reporters in Karachi after a meeting with the U.S. ambassador. She said she had no plans to revive power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, broken off after the general's decision to declare emergency rule.

"We are not going back to the former track," Bhutto said. "We are interested in a roadmap for democracy, but we do not have the confidence that Gen. Musharraf's regime could give us that road map."

One of Musharraf's first acts after seizing extraordinary powers was to purge the Supreme Court of independent-minded judges. Opponents had argued that he ought to be disqualified under a constitutional ban on public servants running for elected office, which they said applied because Musharraf was still army chief.

The military ruler told The Associated Press last week that he expected the retooled court to quickly endorse his re-election, and he was right. Deliberations lasted less then a day on the most serious cases challenging Musharraf.

The court said it would rule Thursday on another petition from a man whose candidacy for the Oct. 6 presidential election was rejected by the election commission. Only then can it authorize the election commission to announce Musharraf the winner of the vote.

An official in Musharraf's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said Monday's ruling kept the general on track to quit the army by the end of November.

With pressure mounting to get the country on a path to democracy, the government on Monday set Jan. 8 as the date for the parliamentary elections.

The opposition has threatened to boycott, saying a vote held while its members are detained and its freedom to assemble blocked would have no validity. They also have questioned the neutrality of a caretaker government installed by Musharraf last week.

Despite an outcry both here and in Washington, there were no indications Musharraf intended to lift his state of emergency before the vote.

In his first public comments since a sit-down with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, Musharraf vowed that the elections would be fair, but also defended the emergency, which has seen thousands of the general's opponents jailed, the judiciary purged and independent media muzzled.

"I took this decision in the best interest of Pakistan," Musharraf said at a ceremony late Sunday to inaugurate a bridge in the southern port city of Karachi.

"I could have said thank you and walked away," he told the state news agency. "But this was not the right approach because I cannot watch this country go down in front of me after so many achievements and such an economic turnaround."

Musharraf urged the opposition not to boycott the vote, saying that any who do would be acting because they feel they cannot win — not because the playing field is unfair.

Negroponte, Washington's No. 2 diplomat, was blunt in comments Sunday after his meetings with Musharraf and other senior military and political figures, saying the emergency rule was "not compatible with free, fair and credible elections."

But Pakistan was quick to dismiss those concerns, saying the senior American diplomat brought no new proposals on his weekend visit, and received no assurances after urging Musharraf to restore the constitution.

The face-off leaves the Bush administration with limited options in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy. Senior Bush Administration officials have said publicly that they have no plans to cut off the billions of dollars in military aid that Pakistan receives each year.

Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan, Stephen Graham and Munir Ahmad contributed to this report.


http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...685311,00.html

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Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

Musharraf May Quit Army by Saturday

By PAUL HAVEN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2007; 9:23 AM


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf could quit as chief of the army and take oath as a civilian president by Saturday, a senior official said, meeting a key demand of critics at home and abroad of his imposition of emergency rule.

The Supreme Court is expected to clear the last legal obstacles to Musharraf's continued rule on Thursday. The Election Commission can then confirm his victory in a disputed October presidential election.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Musharraf would quickly quit his army post and be sworn in for a new five-year term.

"It may happen on Saturday," Qayyum said. "I know the president, and he will honor his commitment."

The general has been under heavy political pressure since he suspended the constitution Nov. 3 and cracked down on dissenters who had questioned his right to stay in power.

The United States has said crucial Jan. 8 elections will be seriously compromised if the state of emergency is not lifted. The U.S. hopes that balloting will usher in a moderate government committed to fighting Islamic extremism.

At home, Musharraf risks seeing his two main rivals _ former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif _ join forces to oust him.

But having purged the Supreme Court of dissenting judges, Musharraf has reined back some of the most draconian elements of what many legal experts are describing as martial law.

Seeking to stave off diplomatic isolation, Pakistan on Wednesday asked a key international forum comprising Britain and its former colonies to delay a decision on whether to suspend it.

In a phone call with his British counterpart on Tuesday, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro asked the Commonwealth for a "short postponement," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said.

Soomro "expressed concern that any precipitate decision by (the Commonwealth) on Pakistan's participation in the Commonwealth would be unfortunate" and urged them to send a delegation to Pakistan to find out more about the situation, Sadiq said.

Foreign ministers from the 53-nation organization meeting in Kampala, Uganda, were expected to take up the issue of Pakistan on Thursday.

A suspension would be an international embarrassment for Pakistan, which was last kicked out of the organization in 1999, following Musharraf's coup. It took them five years to be reinstated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112100241.html

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Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

Retirement of Musharraf as COAS notified

* Will take oath as civilian president on 29th
* To start holding farewell meetings today
* Army to remain in charge of presidential security

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf would take oath as civilian president at 11am on Thursday, but before this he would relinquish charge of chief of army staff (COAS) to start his second term as president of Pakistan.

“Yes, he is going to take oath at 11am on Thursday,” Musharraf’s spokesman Maj Gen (r) Rashid Qureshi told Daily Times on Monday. He also confirmed that the Ministry of Defence had issued a notification of his retirement as army chief after being in office for nine years.

Farewell: Defence Ministry sources said Musharraf would start holding farewell meetings today (Tuesday) – a clear indication that he had decided to call it a day. “Musharraf will meet top military commanders, principal staff officers and senior colleagues,” defence sources said. The formal handing over of charge to his successor is also part of the farewell proceedings, they added. The sources said Musharraf was fulfilling the promise he made to the nation and the Supreme Court of vacating the army post before taking oath as president. Preparations for the ceremony to mark the change of army command are underway, and a formal ceremony will take place at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, defence sources said.

After the completion of the ceremony, the Defence Ministry will announce the appointment of the new chief of army staff, sources said. A special meeting of corps commanders is expected before the handing over ceremony, they added.

Born in 1943 in New Delhi, Musharraf enrolled in the Kakul Military Academy in 1961. He was commissioned in the Artillery Regiment in 1964. Former premier Nawaz Sharif appointed him as the country’s 13th army chief on October 8, 1998. On October 12, 1999, he ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup and bundled him off to Saudi Arabia on December 10, 2000. On October 7, 2001, Musharraf extended his military term, which is supposed to be a three-year tenure post, for an unspecified period. After the late General Ziaul Haq, who was army chief for more than 12 years from April 1, 1976 to August 17, 1988, Musharraf’s tenure as army chief has been the longest. Last week, the new SC judges validated Musharraf’s victory in an October 6 presidential election, clearing the way for him to serve a further five years in office.

Army security, staff to stay: Sources said President Musharraf’s security would remain entrusted to the army, even after taking oath as a civilian president. A special contingent of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group, headed by a brigadier, has been tasked with ensuring Musharraf’s security. General Musharraf has also decided to retain his current military staff after resigning as army chief, it was learnt. This includes a full time military secretary, deputy military secretary and deputy chief of staff. sajjad malik/agencies

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-11-2007_pg1_1

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Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

Musharraf bids farewell to troops

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf visited troops Tuesday to bid them farewell, a day before he planned to stand down as military chief to become a civilian head of state in a move aimed at easing the country's political crisis.

A guard of honor composed of service personnel from the army, navy and air force greeted him as he arrived at armed forces headquarters in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad. Musharraf, who wore his general's uniform, did not make any comments to journalists who were being taken on a military-conducted visit to cover the ceremonies.

Aides to Musharraf announced he would retire on Wednesday as chief of Pakistan's army, whose generals have ruled the country for most of its life since independence from British rule in 1947. The opposition has demanded that Musharraf relinquish his role as military chief, and rescind a state of emergency he declared on Nov.3.

Musharraf spokesman Rashid Qureshi said the president would make "farewell visits" before ending a military career that began in 1964. Musharraf's successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, a former chief of the country's powerful intelligence service, was expected to take charge Wednesday. On Thursday, Musharraf "will take oath of office as president of Pakistan as a civilian," Qureshi said Monday.

Musharraf has faced growing opposition since March, when he tried unsuccessfully to fire the Supreme Court's top judge. The political crisis was aggravated when Musharraf declared emergency rule, citing an increase in militancy in the country's northwest. The general also accused the Supreme Court of overstepping its authority and paralyzing the government, just as it was about to rule on the validity of his victory in a recent presidential election.

Musharraf now faces strong opposition from two of his key opponents — Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto — both former prime ministers who have returned from exile in time for crucial parliamentary elections slated for Jan. 8.
Sharif, who was ousted by the 1999 coup that put Musharraf in power, and Bhutto both registered Monday to run in the election. But like other smaller opposition groups, they indicated their parties may boycott the vote to undermine its legitimacy.

Sharif, who returned home Sunday from Saudi Arabia, appealed for support from Pakistanis unhappy with Musharraf's alliance with the U.S. and the American-friendly stance of Bhutto, his one-time political archrival.
Sharif has sought to present himself as an independent politician, unlike Musharraf, who is criticized by many Pakistanis as a stooge of the Bush administration. Sharif has said that as premier he ignored U.S. advice not to conduct the nuclear test explosions that made Pakistan a nuclear power in 1998.

Such nationalist posturing could entice some voters away from Bhutto, who has wooed America — Pakistan's biggest sponsor — by suggesting she might let U.S. troops strike at Osama bin Laden if he is located on Pakistani territory. America and its allies want Musharraf to lift his suspension of the constitution to ensure a fair election, which they hope will produce a moderate government willing and capable of standing up to religious extremists with ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Musharraf has eased the crackdown on dissent that saw police detain thousands of opponents and take independent TV news off air.
A crackdown against opposition following the emergency also broke Musharraf's relations with Bhutto, leader of the country's biggest opposition party who was twice put under house arrest to stop her from leading mass rallies against the unpopular general. Bhutto said the election is stacked in favor of Musharraf's ruling party, but said she wouldn't participate in a boycott of the vote unless all opposition groups did — a tall order given the fractious relations among Pakistan's many political blocs.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...-tuesday_N.htm

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Kayani takes over command from Musharraf today

ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday began a two-day round of farewell calls to the Services Chiefs at the end of his 43-year career with the army.

He will hand over the command of the army to Vice Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday.

Gen Pervez Musharraf visited the Joint Staff Headquarters, the Naval and the Air Headquarters. He will visit the General Headquarters on Wednesday.

He thanked officers and jawans for their cooperation and lauded their services for rendering supreme sacrifices for the country in meeting external and internal threats and par-

ticularly noted their role in fighting the global war against terrorism.

The president said that the professionalism of the three services was internationally acknowledged and was a source of pride for the country.

He said the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force had risen to the occasion whenever the need arose and guaranteed the sovereignty and independence of the country.

Attired in military ceremonial dress, the president visited the three military headquarters in line with tradition. Contingents of various services saluted him. The president reviewed the guard of honour.

The president had a meeting with the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Tariq Majid, at the Joint Staff Headquarters.

He later visited the Naval Headquarters and met the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, and the principal staff officers.

He also visited the Air Headquarters and met Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed along with other senior officers. He also had an informal meeting with senior officers and was presented souvenirs.

Gen Musharraf will take oath as a civilian president on Wednesday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar will administer the oath at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Thursday.

—APP



http://www.dawn.com.pk/2007/11/28/top6.htm

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General Musharraf bids farewell to arms

* Thanks officers and jawans for their cooperation
* Change of command ceremony today
* Musharraf will take oath as president tomorrow

By Sajjad Malik

RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday bid farewell to several Services chiefs, as he prepared to end his 43 years of service to the Pakistan Army.

Gen Musharraf paid farewell calls at the Joint Staff Headquarters, the Naval and the Air Headquarters. He will visit the General Headquarters on Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman Major General (r) Rashid Qureshi told reporters that Gen Musharraf met with the Joint Staff Headquarters director general during his visit and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majeed.

He also met Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir and principal staff officers at the Naval Headquarters. He met Chief of Air Staff Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed and other senior officers during his visit to the Air Headquarters, Qureshi added.

Thanks officials: Gen Musharraf thanked and praised military officers and jawans for their services and sacrifices in protecting the country and playing their role in the war on terror. He said the three services of the military always proved a ‘guarantee’ to the sovereignty and independence of the country, reported APP.

Change of command: The presidential spokesman said Gen Musharraf would hand over the charge of military chief to Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in a ceremony today (Wednesday), which will be aired live on PTV. He said Musharraf would brief the military’s top brass on potential security threats and his vision of army preparedness during a farewell meeting, which he would chair, with corps commanders. Musharraf would thank them for their support and cooperation during his tenure as army chief, he added.

Inter-Services Public Relations officials said PTV would telecast the ceremony in which Musharraf would step down as army chief at 10am. “The ceremony would be followed by a meeting and Musharraf’s address to the corps commanders,” they said. They said the “Evening Retreat” programme would be an important event of the day when the national flag would be lowered at all military units to mark the change of the army chief. The day would end with a formal farewell dinner for Musharraf that would be attended by all corps commanders and senior military officers, they added.

Oath as president: After doffing his uniform, Gen Musharraf would take oath of the office of president tomorrow (Thursday) at 11am at Awan-e-Sadr to resume his second five-year term. Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar would administer oath to Musharraf.

Defence Ministry sources said Musharraf, who was a firm believer in unity of command, would have to share powers with the army chief and prime minister after putting off uniform. “It is a virtual revival of Troika of 1990s but its efficacy will be diluted considerably in the presence of the National Security Council,” they said.

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Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.