Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has named his successor to take over as army chief, the military says.
The appointee is former head of intelligence Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told the BBC.
Gen Musharraf will resign as head of the army if he wins presidential elections on Saturday, his lawyers say.
Opposition parties say his candidacy is illegal and that he has broken previous promises to resign as army chief.
Lt Gen Kiani has been appointed deputy chief of army staff and will take over the top post when it falls vacant, the military says.
It is not clear when that will be.
Gen Musharraf's lawyers told the Supreme Court last week that he would stand down as army chief "soon after election and before taking the oath of office as president".
Lt Gen Kiani headed Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency from 2004 until last month.
He took part in secret talks recently on a possible power sharing deal between President Musharraf and former PM Benazir Bhutto.
His appointment will be closely watched in Washington which has been putting pressure on Pakistan to do more in the US-led "war on terror".
Boycott
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says Lt Gen Kiani earned Gen Musharraf's confidence when he headed the investigation into two attempts on the president's life in December 2003, bringing a number of suspects to trial in a secret military court.
News of his appointment came as scores of opposition MPs resigned from Pakistan's national parliament and provincial assemblies in protest at Saturday's presidential election.
They insist that President Pervez Musharraf is ineligible to stand.
Correspondents say that the resignations make it even more certain that Gen Musharraf will win the vote.
Members who resigned from the assemblies on Tuesday were drawn mainly from the alliance of Islamic parties, the MMA, and the PML-N party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"We are handing over the resignations today because we consider the election of the president is illegal and unconstitutional," one leading MP, Liaquat Baloch, said, the AFP news agency reports.
The MPs hope the resignations will make the presidential election be seen to be meaningless.
"This is the first step to discredit the election process," said former cricket star and MP Imran Khan, whose party is part of the opposition APDM alliance. 
The country's biggest party is the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It is not taking part in the boycott.
Meanwhile two rival candidates for Saturday's election have filed fresh petitions in the Supreme Court against Gen Musharraf's candidacy.
Last Friday the court dismissed a number of petitions, in a move seen as a major victory for the president.
The president is elected by MPs from the national assembly and Pakistan's four provincial assemblies.
The petitions filed by lawyers representing two candidates standing against President Musharraf, retired Judge Wajihuddin Ahmed and Makhdoom Amin - vice chairman of the PPP - say that the president is not eligible to stand while also remaining head of the army.
Musharraf appoints army successor
Musharraf in court poll victory
Friday, 28 September 2007
Pakistan's Supreme Court says President Pervez Musharraf can stand for election next week despite still being head of the country's army.
It dismissed a number of legal challenges to his right to hold both posts at the same time.
Gen Musharraf registered for the forthcoming ballot on Thursday.
The main opposition alliance say it will boycott the poll. The president is chosen by the national parliament and the four provincial assemblies.
Friday's verdict is a serious blow to opposition parties, especially as the Supreme Court has handed down a number of key verdicts against the government in recent years.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says the opposition now has two options. One is to fight another legal battle with the Election Commission against Gen Musharraf's candidacy. The other is to build public pressure against the government to try to prevent his election.
President Musharraf's lawyers have said that if he wins another term of office in the election, scheduled for 6 October, he will resign as army chief in November.
Earlier this week the United States called on Gen Musharraf to ensure the election - due on 6 October - is free and fair.
He is a key ally in America's so-called war on terror but observers say Washington is worried about his declining popularity and the increasing problems of militancy in the country.
'Not maintainable'
"As per majority six-three, the petitions are not maintainable," the head of the nine-member panel of judges, Rana Bhagwandas, announced.
Opposition parties and most of Pakistan's lawyers have been campaigning to remove Gen Musharraf since he tried to sack the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Chaudhry, in March.
Lawyers outside the Supreme Court received Friday's verdict with a mixture of disbelief and anger.
"We do not accept the decision", Ali Ahmed Kurd, a senior lawyer said, suggesting that it was politically motivated. "This decision has been written in the presidency."
Information Minister Tariq Azeem said: "It is a great victory for the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution... I would now ask everybody, including the opposition, to respect the decision and accept it".
There are more than 40 candidates for the presidential election. None are expected to be a serious challenge to Gen Musharraf.
Earlier on Friday, one candidate, Wajihuddin Ahmad, challenged Gen Musharraf's eligibility to stand with the Election Commission.
Among his objections, Mr Ahmad says that Gen Musharraf has failed to disclose his university qualifications, a mandatory requirement.
Bhutto announces Pakistan return
Friday, 14 September 2007
Pakistani ex-PM Benazir Bhutto will return from self-imposed exile on 18 October, despite no power-sharing deal with the government, her party says.
A top member of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) told journalists in Islamabad that Ms Bhutto would "bring back true democracy to Pakistan".
Ms Bhutto, who has failed to reach a deal with President Musharraf, could face corruption charges on her return.
She wants him to resign as army chief and seek a new term as president.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Islamabad, says Ms Bhutto's negotiations with the weakened military ruler are unpopular with both her party and with many Pakistanis.
Our correspondent says it is not yet clear whether she will return as the general's opposition or his main political support.
Analysts say the failure of the ruling pro-military PML-Q party to bring greater support and legitimacy to the army-led government forced Gen Musharraf to seek a dialogue with Ms Bhutto, whose party received the largest number of votes in the 2002 elections.
Correspondents say top US officials, who want Gen Musharraf's continued support for their "war on terror", feel that Ms Bhutto could bring greater acceptance to the government.
Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, made an abortive bid to return to Pakistan on Monday to challenge Gen Musharraf.
He was deported to Saudi Arabia within hours, after being charged with money laundering and corruption.
The government says Ms Bhutto will not face deportation.
'Long live Benazir'
Ms Bhutto's supporters erupted into chants of "Long Live Benazir! Prime Minister Benazir!" when the announcement was made by the PPP's vice president, Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
He called on supporters and voters to receive Ms Bhutto on her arrival at the airport in Karachi, the capital of her home province of Sindh.
Her planned return comes shortly after Gen Musharraf is expected to seek to extend his eight-year rule in elections sometime between 15 September and 15 October.
Parliamentary elections are expected to be held by January 2008.
Ms Bhutto has held talks with the government, indicating that her party may be willing to accept Gen Musharraf if he gives up his post as the army chief.
She wants to strike down a constitutional clause that gives the president discretionary powers to dissolve assemblies and governments.
She has also demanded the withdrawal of cases against her and Mr Sharif, and wants to reverse a constitutional amendment that bars prime ministerial candidates from seeking more than two terms in office.
The current law would disqualify both Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif. Ms Bhutto served as prime minister - from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996.
She was dismissed for alleged corruption on both occasions but has steadfastly denied all accusations. She left Pakistan in 1999, although she was never convicted.
