For Musharraf, quitting army may end support

On any given day during the last eight years, President Pervez Musharraf was most likely to be found not at the ornate presidential...

On any given day during the last eight years, President Pervez Musharraf was most likely to be found not at the ornate presidential compound in the capital, but here in this garrison city: at his desk at army headquarters, clad in familiar camouflage fatigues, greeted everywhere with the crisp salutes and studied deference accorded a four-star general.

Now, a farewell to arms appears inevitable, if not imminent.

Under a timetable he pledged to before he put his country under de facto martial law, the general was supposed to have stepped down as military chief today, before being sworn in for a new presidential term. Despite enormous domestic and international pressure, Musharraf will almost certainly not do so.

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In recent days, the general has promised repeatedly to shed his uniform as soon as possible but has been elusive about a specific date. In the latest such pledge, he told the Associated Press on Wednesday that it probably would happen by the end of the month.

For his patrons in the West, Musharraf’s relinquishing of his military role has become a non-negotiable necessity, a crucial prelude to the easing of the harsh emergency measures that were put into effect on November 3. US Deputy Secretary of State John D Negroponte will press the case in a visit to Islamabad on Friday. Other key Western allies have taken a harder line. The British Commonwealth nations are threatening to suspend Pakistan’s membership unless Musharraf quits the army and lifts his emergency decree by November 22.

Although the Bush administration says it believes the Pakistani leader’s promise to give up his army post as soon as possible, opposition leaders believe he will find one pretext after another to delay.

Many opposition activists believe that Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, will instead try to ease Western pressure by rolling back some provisions of emergency rule. Under the decree, the constitution is suspended, independent television channels have been knocked off the air and thousands of government critics have been jailed.