ISLAMABAD, SEPT 29: Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif today extended by one-and-a-half years, the additional charge of army chief General Pervez Musharraf as the chairman of crucial Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), in an apparent conciliatory move towards the powerful army.According to an official notification issued today, the prime minister extended the tenure of General Musharraf as chairman of JCSC till October 6, 2001, the day on which his term as Chief Of the Army Staff (COAS) also ends.Earlier, the additional charge of chairman of JCSC had been assigned to General Musharraf till April 8, 2000.Spokesman of the prime minister's office hoped that ``this step will once and for all set at rest the uncalled-for rumours and speculation about the change of command in the army, that some vested interests were fanning in pursuance of their political agenda''.As per the government's decision, General Musharraf will ``continue to hold the dual charge of COAS and chairman of JCSC concurrentlywith his full tenure as army chief''.This significant development comes in the wake of reports of growing differences between Sharif and the army chief and fears of another army coup in Pakistan, which prompted United States to issue a statement only a week ago that it would strongly oppose any extra-constitutional change in Islamabad.There were also reports that Sharif was trying to remove the army chief, which was put at rest when General Musharraf made a categorical statement a few days ago that he is going to complete his full tenure.He had been appointed for three years in last October after the former army chief General Karamat suddenly resigned, following differences with Sharif.
