Bhutto: Musharraf to quit as army chief by Delia Cruceru

Pakistan's former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto told in an interview for CNN on Wednesday that Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has agreed to step down as the country's military chief during negotiations on a power-sharing deal with her. "We're very pleased that Gen. Musharraf has taken the decision to listen to the people of Pakistan by taking the decision to take off the uniform. I expect that he will step down (as army chief) before the presidential elections, but that is for the president to say," Bhutto said. Bhutto is in talks with Musharraf for several months involving a pact that would protect the general's re-election bid from legal challenges and public disenchantment with military rule. An ally for the President Musharraf, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, confirmed that the two sides reached an agreement about the President's military role: "Both sides have agreed on the issue of uniform," he told reporters. According to him Musharraf will step down as army chief before the presidential vote but only "he knows the date and she (Bhutto) knows the date." A spokesman for the State Department in Washington, Tom Casey said: "Our principal concern in Pakistan is that there be free, fair and transparent elections."

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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