M A I N   N E W S

‘Mr Musharraf’ on Thursday
Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, November 26
Pakistan’s embattled military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, who once described his uniform as his “second skin”, will take the oath as civilian President for a second term on November 29, his spokesman said here today.

Musharraf, whose re-election in the October 6 presidential poll was validated by the Supreme Court last week, is expected to doff his military uniform a day earlier.

The Pakistan Army has begun preparations for a ceremony at which Musharraf will quit as army chief and his hand-picked deputy, Gen Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani, will assume the military post.

Presidential spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid (retd) Qureshi announced that Musharraf will be sworn in for a second five-year term at the Aiwan-e-Sadr or presidency here by Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar on November 29.

The ceremony will be attended by the caretaker prime minister, provincial chief ministers and governors, three service chiefs, members of the interim cabinet, former prime ministers and ministers and other dignitaries.

On November 28, Musharraf will hand over charge as army chief to Kiyani during a ceremony at the army headquarters in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The military ruler last month appointed Kiyani, a former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, as vice chief of the army.

The formal ceremony will also mark Musharraf’s last visit to the General Headquarters as army chief. He will chair a meeting of the corps commanders, during which the internal security situation and the political scenario are likely to be discussed, official sources said. — PTI

Sharif, Bhutto file nominations

Islamabad, November 26
Former Pakistan Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto filed nomination papers today to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, as President Pervez Musharraf prepared to take oath as civilian President.

Sharif and Bhutto filed papers from their hometowns of Lahore and Larkana.

PML (N) chief, who returned to Pakistan last evening from Saudi Arabia two months after he was sent back in exile hours after arrival in Islamabad, vowed not to work under Gen Musharraf. — UNI