Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said he will continue to stay as army chief, reneging from an earlier pledge to quit the powerful post by the end of the year.
“I will remain in uniform even after Dec. 31. I am telling you this for the first time,” Musharraf said in an interview with the private Kawish Television Network late Friday.
Last year, Musharraf pledged to take off his military uniform by the end of 2004 in return for support for constitutional changes validating his rule and giving him extensive power under a deal with an alliance of Islamist parties.
Musharraf said that he would soon tell the nation about his decision.
“I will talk to the nation in a few days .... and tell them some reasons, and explain that,” said Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999.
Musharraf has earlier indicated that quitting as army chief would undermine Pakistan’s support for the U.S. war against terrorism and his efforts to make peace with rival India.
The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of the 57 years it has been an independent nation.
Last month, Pakistan’s parliament passed a law that allowed Musharraf to retain both positions, giving early warning that he was unlikely to leave the army.
Opposition angry
Islamist and mainstream opposition parties are furious.
The Islamic Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance held two rallies last week to force Musharraf to quit as army chief.
The MMA will hold another anti-Musharraf rally Sunday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.
But observers say the opposition’s protest is unlikely to pose any challenge to his rule given the parliamentary majority of the pro-military ruling party and its allies.
Musharraf has survived at least three assassination attempts — two last December — which security officials say were orchestrated by extremists incensed by Musharraf’s ties to the United States.
While Western countries have voiced concern over Musharraf’s democratic credentials, criticism has been muted given his role in helping the United States hunt al-Qaida members.