Musharraf 'ready to quit, seeks immunity'

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is ready to resign rather than face impeachment but is seeking immunity from prosecution and agreement on a safe place to live, coalition government officials said yesterday.

Speculation has been mounting that the former army chief Musharraf would quit since the ruling coalition, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said last week it planned to impeach him.

A spokesman for the president has repeatedly denied media reports that he was about to quit, and he did so again yesterday, saying "baseless and malicious rumors" about the president's plan to resign were damaging the economy.