Pakistani leader to leave Army job in '04

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's pro-U.S. president agreed Wednesday to quit as army chief by the end of 2004, part of a surprise deal with the anti-American Islamic opposition and a historic step in this nuclear-armed country's return to democratic rule.

Pervez Musharraf will serve out the final 31/2 years of his presidency, but he may be in a less powerful position, and some observers questioned whether he will be able to stay in power without the military at his beck and call.

The agreement, reached after months of protests by the Islamic opposition, also forces Musharraf to scale back extraordinary powers he decreed after ousting a civilian government in 1999.

"I have decided that I will take off my military uniform by December 2004 and I will step down as chief of army staff," the 60-year-old president - wearing glasses and clad in his green and black military fatigues - said in a brief televised address.

The agreement - which comes just nine days after Musharraf narrowly escaped an assassination attempt and about two weeks before a landmark regional summit with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - immediately led to speculation about who would succeed Musharraf as military chief.

A pro-American four-star general, Mohammed Yousaf Khan, is next in line to take command. However, Khan is due to complete his three-year tenure in the No. 2 position next October, and it is unclear whether he would be in position to succeed Musharraf when he steps down at the end of next year, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

After he steps down from the army post, Musharraf must seek a vote of confidence in Parliament to serve out the rest of his presidential term, which ends in 2007. The Islamic opposition party that reached the agreement with Musharraf said it would back him in the vote.

Musharraf still enjoys popular support after ousting the ineffective government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless 1999 coup. The general seized power after Sharif denied landing rights to the civilian plane carrying Musharraf, nearly causing it to crash with well over 100 people on board.

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