Musharraf Retires As Pakistan Army Chief
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 28, 1:29 AM EST
*Musharraf Retires As Pakistan Army Chief*
By MUNIR AHMAD
Associated Press Writer
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) -- Pervez Musharraf stepped down Wednesday
from his powerful post as Pakistan's military commander, a day before he
was to be sworn in as a civilian president in a long-delayed pledge not
to hold both jobs.
During a change of command, Musharraf relinquished his post by handing
over his ceremonial baton to his hand-picked successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.
"(You) are the saviors of Pakistan," Musharraf said in an emotional
final speech to the troops. He appeared to be blinking back tears as the
guard of honor performed a final march-by.
Musharraf's retirement from the military has been a key opposition
demand and the move may help defuse a possible boycott of parliamentary
elections in January by parties opposed to his rule. Since seizing power
in a coup in 1999, Musharraf has served as president while retaining his
post as head of the armed forces.
Musharraf was re-elected to serve a new presidential term by parliament
in October, but his confirmation was held up by the Supreme Court
following complaints that a military man could not constitutionally
serve as an elected head-of-state.
He reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, sacking the
chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his
appointees. The reconstituted top court then duly approved his election.
On Wednesday, hundreds of senior officers, politicians and other
civilians watched from the stands as an unsmiling Musharraf, wearing a
phalanx of medals and a green sash across his uniform, reviewed the
ranks to the strains of "Auld Lang Syne."
"I'm proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world's
best army," Musharraf said. "I will no longer command ... but my heart
and my mind will always be with you."
Opponents on Tuesday welcomed Musharraf's belated conversion to civilian
rule and appeared to pull back from a threat to boycott the elections.
Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, said
Musharraf's conversion to a civilian president would make "a lot of
difference," and he would only refuse to participate in the vote if all
opposition parties agreed to do so as well.
But Sharif also kept up his rhetoric against the general, insisting that
Musharraf lift the state of emergency.
Musharraf has faced increasingly adamant calls from critics at home and
abroad to lift the emergency and make good on a long-standing pledge to
restore civilian rule. To calm the turmoil, he has released thousands of
opponents and let all but one of Pakistan's independent news channels go
back on the air.
Musharraf insists his continued rule as president is essential for
Pakistan, which faces an increasingly violent onslaught from Islamic
extremists, to remain stable as it reverts to democracy.
The crackdown on dissent has dealt a blow to his relations with Benazir
Bhutto, another former prime minister who has returned from self-exile
and who shares his secularist, pro-Western views.
Bhutto, who has twice been put under house arrest to stop her from
leading protests, has joined Sharif in denouncing Musharraf's
backsliding on democracy. However, she and Sharif are fierce political
rivals, and there are doubts that they can forge a united front to force
out Musharraf.
Kayani, a close associate of Musharraf, is widely expected to maintain
the army's pro-Western policies even as he tries to repair the image of
a force damaged by its direct involvement in politics.
An official insisted Tuesday that Musharraf's switch would bring no
change in resolve against terrorism.
"Uniform or no uniform, it would not impact our war on terror," Interior
Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.
Sharif, who returned Sunday from exile in Saudi Arabia, went on CNN in
September to calm doubts about his commitment to battling the Taliban
and al-Qaida.
"You can't fight terror the way Mr. Musharraf is fighting," Sharif said,
adding that the Pakistani leader "needs the threat of terror for his own
survival. We will fight out of conviction."
But Sharif, a conservative with good relations with religious parties,
is reaching out to the many Pakistanis who disagree with sending the
army to fight militants along the Afghan border and who deride Musharraf
as an American stooge. Civilians as well as militant have died in those
operations and occasional U.S. missile strikes on targets inside Pakistan.
"If the outside world declares somebody a terrorist, we shall not act on
it blindly," he told reporters in his home city of Lahore. "We are
against extremism and terrorism. But it doesn't mean to allow foreign
countries to bomb our people."
That posture could entice some votes away from Bhutto, who has said she
might let U.S. troops strike at Osama bin Laden if the al-Qaida leader
is found in Pakistan.
It remains unclear whether Sharif can assemble a slate of candidates
strong enough to challenge the pro-Musharraf ruling party or Bhutto's
party in January.
Still, a day after filing his nomination papers, Sharif gave the
strongest hint yet that he would actually take part.
"If all political parties agree, I think we should boycott the polls
because it is a lethal weapon," he said. "But if we don't get an
agreement, we should try to reach our objectives in the polls."
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Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad and Zarar Khan in
Lahore contributed to this report.