Musharraf to stay Army chief

Claiming support of the majority of Pakistanis , President Pervez Musharraf tonight announced his decision to continue as Army Chief, renegi...

int(3)

Claiming support of the majority of Pakistanis , President Pervez Musharraf tonight announced his decision to continue as Army Chief, reneging on his last year’s pledge to quit by tomorrow. He cited the peace process with India and war on terror as prime reasons for the decision.

Addressing the nation over the state-run TV and radio, the day before his own deadline to quit the uniform, Gen. Musharraf declared that he would retain the office of Chief of the Army staff as ‘‘mandated’’ by a legislation passed by Parliament for the continuity of national policies.

He appealed to the opposition to accept verdict of the majority in the interest of sustainable democracy and Pakistan’s efforts to resolve Kashmir issue. He said his last year’s pledge to quit uniform by December 31 this year was voluntary and accused the opposition of not keeping their side of the nargain.

Story continues below this ad

During his speech, Gen. Musharraf dwelt at length on the relations with India stating that there has been improvement in the bilateral ties.

‘‘We are dealing with that country (India) on the basis of sovereign equality, without any compromise on principles. The two countries are moving through confidence building measures and dialogue process,’’ he said. —PTI