Musharraf pledges to quit as army chief

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-08 22:09

ISLAMABAD -- President General Pervez Musharraf said here Thursday that he would quit as the army chief before taking oath as Pakistan's president.


Pakistani lawyers shouting anti-Musharraf slogans during a demonstration in Islamabad. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has announced that elections will be held before Feb. 15 and confirmed his pledge to quit as army chief, state media said. [Xinhua]

Musharraf also announced that the general elections would be held by February 15 next year, according to the official APP news agency.

He made the remarks after chairing the meeting of the National Security Council held at the presidential house.

Musharraf said he was committed to holding general elections and the transition to full democratic civilian rule in Pakistan.

He said that the tenure of the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies were ending on different dates and after studying the option whether to hold elections on separate dates, it was decided to go for holding the election simultaneously on or before February 15, 2008.

Talking to a group of journalists after the meeting, Musharraf was asked about his uniform. He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered not to announce the results of the presidential election and the matter was now with the Supreme Court.

He said whenever the court would allow for the notification of results that would be the time when he could take oath as president and remove the uniform.



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