Musharraf rejects pressure to quit

Islamabad: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf rejected ‘any pressure or ultimatum' to decide whether to quit as army chief, his spokesman said on Thursday, after an opponent claimed he would step down under a pact to restore Pakistan to democracy.

The US-allied general and Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto are negotiating an agreement that could end military rule eight years after Musharraf seized power in a coup and see him share power with the opposition.

Officials were unavailable or declined to comment directly on Bhutto's assertion on Wednesday that Musharraf had already decided to leave his powerful military post.

However, his office released a statement rejecting reports that Bhutto's call for concrete commitments by the end of this week amounted to an ultimatum to decide whether to remove his uniform.

While the president believed in dialogue ‘on all important national issues, he never worked under any pressure or ultimatum' his spokesman Rashid Qureshi said in a faxed statement.

Musharraf will make ‘all decisions only in national interest at appropriate times and according to the constitution and the law,' Qureshi said.

At stake is a pact that would protect Musharraf's troubled re-election bid from looming legal challenges and public disenchantment with military rule.

In return, Musharraf is expected to give up his role as army chief and let Bhutto return from exile in London to contest year-end parliamentary elections.

Bhutto told AP on Wednesday that she was '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,' she said in a telephone interview.

Ministers in Pakistan have confirmed that the two sides were close to finalizing an agreement.

Musharraf has insisted that the constitution allows him to be army chief until the end of 2007 but has never made clear when - or if - he will step down.

However, Bhutto and other opposition leaders argue the constitution obliges him to give up that post before he asks lawmakers for a fresh presidential mandate in September or October.