Musharraf appoints successor as Army Chief

PAKISTAN: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Tuesday appointed a former intelligence chief to succeed him as head of the army in a move apparently aimed at ensuring his security if he becomes a civilian leader.

The military said the appointment of Lieutenant General Ashfaq Kiyani, a Musharraf loyalist, would be effective from Monday, two days after his current boss is due to seek re-election as president.

Musharraf, a key US ally in the “war on terror,” has said he will step down as head of the powerful army by November 15, provided that he wins another five-year term on Saturday. “Lieutenant General Ashfaq Kiyani has been appointed the chief of army staff-designate,” top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.

Kiyani appears to fit the bill as a former head of the country’s premier spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence, or ISI, which is engaged in the hunt for Al-Qaeda militants as well as providing internal security.

The chain-smoking career soldier was replaced in that role on September 21 by Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj in a batch of promotions. Musharraf put Kiyani personally in charge of the investigation after two assassination attempts on his life in December 2003, incidents in which both Al-Qaeda and rogue members of the armed forces were implicated.

In his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire”, Musharraf praised Kiyani’s ability to get Pakistan’s often fractious intelligence agencies to pull together.

“When Kiyani got tough, the problems of coordination disappeared and the agencies started working like a well-oiled machine,” Musharraf recalled.

ISLAMABAD,Wednesday.AFP