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The acceptance of Sattar's resignation came amid reports that the president wanted him to continue till the general election scheduled for October.
What tended to reinforce the speculation was that Sattar had recently accompanied Musharraf to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Sattar made his last appearance as foreign minister on Thursday at a joint press conference with United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Musharraf was expected to name a successor next week and among those considered frontrunners were Ambassador to the US Maleeha Lodhi, Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq, and former foreign secretaries Shahryar Khan and Najamuddin Shaikh.
The president was also reportedly considering former country chief of multinational firm IBM and Information Minister Nisar Memon for the job.
In any case, the new foreign minister would last only up to the general election, after which a new cabinet would take over.
Musharraf paid tributes to Sattar's contribution of "forcefully highlighting Pakistan's foreign policy during a crucial phase of the country's history" and hoped he would continue to impart counsel to the foreign office.
Sattar is expected to join the Tehrik-e-Insaf party of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
PTI
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