Musharraf's term as Army Chief extended

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 1. A decision has been taken in principle to extend the term of Gen. Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) till further orders, a Pakistani Urdu daily, Nawai Waqt, has reported.

The term of Gen. Musharraf as COAS is due to expire on October 6 and he had announced a few months ago that he had no intention to step down as COAS till the completion of the general elections scheduled in October 2002.

After Gen. Musharraf took over as the President of the country in the third week of June, the managers of the military establishment had made it known that he would continue to function as COAS.

The Urdu paper in its report has said that the Corps Commanders would endorse the decision while a joint meeting of the National Security Council and the Federal Cabinet would give final approval to the decision.

Quoting reliable sources the paper said the decision to extend the term of Gen. Musharraf was taken in the `national interest as Pakistan could not afford further uncertainty in the prevailing scenario'.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : India, Russia discuss terrorism
Next     : Pak. repatriates 31 Indians