Pakistan appoints new intel chief

Islamabad: President General Pervez Musharraf appointed a new military spy chief and made several other promotions yesterday, days after announcing his plan to step down as head of the army if re-elected president next month.

Army appointments are closely watched at any time in a country where generals have held sway for more than half of the 60 years since it was founded. But this year's round of retirements and promotions has been keenly anticipated as US ally Musharraf is going through his weakest phase since coming to power in a coup eight years ago.

Petitions in court

The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions challenging his right to hold the dual offices of president and army chief, the legality of seeking election in uniform, and whether he can be re-elected by the current assemblies before they are dissolved for a general election due by mid-January.

A military statement said Musharraf appointed Nadeem Taj as director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and promoted him from major-general to lieutenant-general.

Taj was formerly the head of Military Intelligence and also served as Musharraf's military secretary at the time of the coup.

The move will harden expectations that the replaced ISI chief, Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, will get one of the top jobs - either taking over from Musharraf as chief of army staff, or becoming his vice-chief.

The other frontrunner for one of the top slots is Lieutenant-General Tariq Majeed, who has been replaced as Tenth Corps Commander based in Rawalpindi. Majeed was stationed in Lahore during the 1999 coup, and ordered troops to take over the family estates of Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted.

Both officers are well regarded by US counterparts, Western diplomats say.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is an important non-Nato ally for the United States. Its support is regarded as crucial for the success of Western military intervention in Afghanistan, and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaida in tribal border lands.

Al Qaida's media arm As-Sahab issued messages on Thursday from Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahri, in which they declared war on the Pakistan army and exhorted followers to take revenge on Musharraf for the killing of a rebel cleric and his followers when commandos stormed an Islamabad mosque in July.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad dismissed the call as "irrelevant" and said Pakistanis did not back Bin Laden.

Issue of morale

The changes in command come at a time when the army's prestige has been dented in clashes with militants in tribal areas like Waziristan, where 240 soldiers are being held captive.

Boosting the army's morale will be a priority for the new incumbents, a Western military official said. The new top brass, analysts agree, will regardless of their loyalty to Musharraf be loathe to involve the army in politics, given the general sentiment nationwide.