Musharraf gives up army uniform

Gen Musharraf said the army was the saviour of Pakistan

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has handed over the command of the military in a ceremony in Rawalpindi.

Gen Musharraf passed a ceremonial baton to Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani at the army's headquarters.

In his farewell address, Gen Musharraf said the army was his "life" and he was proud to have been the commander of this "great force".

He had been under huge pressure to quit as army chief and is due to be sworn in as civilian president on Thursday.

The move will mean an end to nine years of military rule in Pakistan.

'Half a century'

Dressed in full military uniform, Gen Musharraf arrived at the ceremony with a baton under his left arm.

On his arrival, he was greeted by Gen Kiani and inspected a guard of honour.

A military band played Pakistan's national anthem and the ceremony began with a recitation from the Koran.

The colourful ceremony was shown live on PTV, Pakistan's national channel.

"I am bidding farewell to the army after having been in uniform for 46 years," Gen Musharraf said in his address.

Gen Musharraf's army seized power in a 1999 coup

"This army is my life, my passion. I love this army, and this relationship will continue, although I will not be in uniform," he said.

Gen Musharraf said it was difficult to describe his emotions.

"When one has lived half a century with a family, a family like the army, united, and fully loyal... then leaving it is bound to bring on emotions. But such is the system of life. People come, and they have to go. Good things also come to an end. Everything is mortal," he said.

"I am fortunate to have commanded the best army in the world. This army is an integrating force, the saviour of Pakistan," Gen Musharraf said.

"Without this army, the entity of Pakistan cannot exist".

'Excellent soldier'

Gen Musharraf expressed full faith in the ability of his successor, Gen Kiani, to lead the force.

President Musharraf's unpopularity has caused Western concern

"He's an excellent soldier and I can say with full confidence that under his command, the armed forces will achieve great heights," Gen Musharraf said.

He had designated Gen Kiani, a former head of the intelligence services, as his successor in October.

The most serious pressure on the president to give up his uniform had come from the United States, his main international backer.

Washington has grown concerned in recent months at the army's inability to rein in pro-Taleban militants and by Gen Musharraf's growing unpopularity.

As a civilian leader, Gen Musharraf will still have considerable powers, including the ability to sack a civilian government.

He imposed emergency rule on 3 November in order, he said, to control an unruly judiciary and deal with the growing threat from Islamist militants.

General elections are to be held on 8 January, but Gen Musharraf has yet to say when the emergency will be lifted.

Fatal blast near Musharraf's HQ

A suicide bomb attack has killed at least seven people and injured 11 near Pakistan's army headquarters, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Officials said the blast occurred some 2km (1.24 miles) away from a secure compound containing the army HQ and President Pervez Musharraf's office.

General Musharraf was in his office at the time of the attack, but was unhurt.

The attack follows a number of recent bombings in Pakistan, which have been blamed on Islamic militants.

The location of the explosion was a police checkpoint.

A man had approached the checkpoint on foot and detonated his explosives, a government spokesman said.

Two policemen and two paramilitary soldiers were among those killed by the explosion, along with the suspected bomber, according to the AFP news agency.

President Musharraf was safe inside his headquarters in Army House discussing the security situation with senior officials when the bomb went off, according to presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi.

Heightened tensions

This is the third bombing in Rawalpindi in the past two months.

On 4 September, two suicide bombers killed 25 people in the city, in an attack on a bus carrying intelligence officials to work.

The following month, 139 people were killed when bombers in Karachi attacked the motorcade of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile.

These earlier bombings are thought to have been the work of Islamic militants, who are angry with both the Musharraf government and Ms Bhutto, whom they believe to be too closely allied to the US.

Tensions in the country were heightened in July when Gen Musharraf ordered troops to storm the Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, killing hundreds.

The mosque had been occupied by Islamic militants, who were using it as a base from which to organise opposition to the government and enforce strict Sharia law in Islamabad.

Musharraf to summon high level meeting next week

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf will call a high level meeting next week to hold consultations for strategy after the presidential election till November 15, sources said.

Chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan would also meet the president in next week, sources added.

Pakistan set to choose president

Pakistani lawmakers are set to vote in a presidential election, even though it is not clear if President Pervez Musharraf has the legal right to run.

Gen Musharraf is expected to win the vote in parliament and the country's four provincial assemblies.

But Pakistan's Supreme Court says no winner can be announced until it rules if he can stand while still army chief.

A deal with former PM Benazir Bhutto means her supporters will not join an opposition boycott of the election.

On Friday Gen Musharraf dropped corruption charges against Ms Bhutto - a stride towards an expected power-sharing deal.

President Musharraf hopes the reconciliation agreement, as it is called, will add credibility to his government.

Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is the largest in the country.

'Just a formality'

Pakistan has been engulfed in political upheaval in recent months, at the same time as the security forces have suffered a series of blows from pro-Taleban militants opposed to Gen Musharraf's support for the US-led "war on terror".

HAVE YOUR SAY If both the sides are serious, it should work. This should bring the much-desired stability to Pakistan Bijal Bhatt, Auckland, New Zealand

Gen Musharraf will step down as army chief, but only if he wins the election, his lawyers have said.

Voting is due to take place from 1000 to 1500 (0500 to 0900 GMT).

But Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court throws the presidential election into confusion.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says government officials called the decision a formality but analysts said it was a serious setback that would place a question mark over the legitimacy of the poll.

It means that even if Gen Musharraf does get the most votes he cannot be declared winner until the court has decided if he was a valid candidate in the first place.

KEY DATES 06 Oct: Presidential vote due to be held 17 Oct: Supreme Court to resume hearing challenges to Musharraf candidacy 18 Oct: Date ex-PM Benazir Bhutto has set for her homecoming 15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held by mid-January

Last week the court dismissed a number of earlier objections filed by Gen Musharraf's opponents on technical grounds.

That led to fresh petitions being filed this week.

The judges said they would not make a final decision before 17 October, which coincides with the day Ms Bhutto says she will return from years of self-imposed exile.

Correspondents say Gen Musharraf was waiting for the court's verdict before formalising a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto.

The ordnance signed into law on Friday exempts any person charged with - but not convicted of - corruption between 3 January 1986 and 12 October 1999.

Correspondents say it is designed to exclude another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, whose corruption cases date from 2000.

The amnesty paves the way for Ms Bhutto's return to contest parliamentary elections scheduled to be held by mid-January.

The day of the General: •Musharraf to run for president in uniform •Petitioners, lawyers’ leaders livid

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed on technical grounds petitions against Gen Pervez Musharraf holding two offices, giving a legal boost to the president to contest the election for the second term in uniform.

It was a majority (six-three) verdict by a nine-member bench headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas.

The bench threw out the petitions challenging the dual offices of the army chief and the president held by Gen Musharraf, declaring that these were not maintainable. In other words, the merit of the cases which had been debated for two weeks along with the issue of maintainability, became irrelevant as the majority of judges dismissed the challenge by declaring that the petitions could not be entertained at this forum.

After suffering a series of setbacks from the superior judiciary over the past few months, such as the restoration of the chief justice, acceptance of Nawaz Sharif’s right to return from exile and bail to Javed Hashmi, President Musharraf received the first good news from the Supreme Court.

Government supporters termed the verdict a ‘great victory’ and said the day clearly belonged to Gen Musharraf.

The verdict received an immediate adverse reaction inside the packed courtroom the moment the bench rose for the day. Though the short order was heard in pin drop silence by scores of lawyers and some political leaders, the courtroom echoed with slogans of ‘shame, shame’ and ‘go Musharraf go’ which later turned into real protest as lawyers and supporters of the petitioners walked out to join a much bigger crowd.

Some of the lawyers described the judgment as revival of the doctrine of necessity in the country’s chequered judicial history.

Former vice-chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council Ali Ahmed Kurd asked lawyers to lay siege to the Election Commission on Saturday -- the day of scrutiny of nomination papers of the presidential candidates.

“For reasons to be recorded later, as per majority view of 6 to 3, the petitions are held to be not maintainable within the contemplation of Article 184(3) of the Constitution (court’s original jurisdiction under the fundamental rights),” the judgment announced by Justice Rana Bhagwandas said.

“As per minority view of Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, all these petitions are held to be maintainable under Article 184(3) and hereby accepted. As per majority view these petitions are hereby dismissed as not maintainable,” he said.

Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum appreciated the judgment and said it was a correct decision and the dissent in the bench reflected that judges had applied their independent mind.

Soon after the verdict, police escorted president’s counsel Sharifuddin Pirzada and the AG out of the courtroom to ensure their security from the wrath of a furious crowd outside.

Reacting to the judgment, PML (N) acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said the infamous doctrine of necessity, under which all military rules had been validated by the apex court, was still continuing. “We thought the judiciary has become totally independent, but this impression proved to be wrong,” he deplored.

He announced that a campaign would be launched against the regime and for complete independence of the judiciary.

MMA parliamentarian Farid Paracha said the judgment did not reflect the aspiration of the people, rather it strengthened the rule of a military dictator. He said the people of Pakistan had rejected it, adding that the MMA would file a review petition. He said that the struggle for restoration of genuine democracy in the country would be intensified.

Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir A. Malik said it was not a verdict which had been unexpected. “Though the July 20 judgment of restoring Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was a step ahead, we still have a long way to go for complete independence of the judiciary. Although the judgment is disappointing, our battle is not over,” he added.

He said the three dissenting judges would always be remembered as Justice A.R. Cornelius and added that history would record its own conclusion regarding the other six judges.

Senior Advocate Hamid Khan said judges had abdicated their jurisdiction in deciding the matter, adding that the order was a continuation of the Tameezuddin and Dosso cases (in which the concept of the doctrine of necessity was introduced).

However, he said, the judgment would not dampen lawyers’ struggle which would continue till the end of dictatorship.

Advocate Akram Sheikh said that by dismissing the petitions under the cover of technicality, the Supreme Court had resurrected the infamous decision in the Maulvi Tameezuddin case dismissing the petition on technical grounds.

He said he had been asked by his client (Jamaat-i-Islami) to move a review petition against the decision which he would file on Monday.

Earlier, Advocate Akram in his arguments before the court emphasised that it was the duty of the court to scrap the uniform of President Musharraf because it had allowed him to keep the uniform. Any validation by the court, he said, would not be accepted.

Advocate Hamid Khan said President Musharraf’s holding of two offices derogated the constitutional provision of equality before the law because he was holding the gun.

A.K. Dogar said that Article 63(1-d) allowed President Musharraf to hold one office, but the President to Hold Another Office dealt with the dual-office law which was against constitutional provisions.

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, appearing as amicus curiae, said: “We as a nation have reached the final stage of transition where there is an opportunity to all candidates for the presidential election that they would enter upon the office of the president as civilians.”