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Pak army commanders express confidence in Musharraf

Brushing aside the opposition's demand, Pakistan's top army commanders have expressed full confidence in President Pervez Musharraf's leadership and endorsed his decision to continue as head of state and chief of the army staff.

"A special meeting of commanders held in Islamabad on Monday supported President Musharraf," officials said.

The mainstream political and religious parties, however, have said that they do not recognise the April referendum, which declared Musharraf the elected president. The parties have also refused to recognise his constitutional amendments that gave him special powers to dismiss the parliament.

In a surprise move, Musharraf summoned the meeting of the commanders on Monday after the six-party Islamist alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, announced that its talks with the pro-military Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam, had failed due to Musharraf's refusal to quit as army chief.

Senior MMA leader and Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said talks with the PML-Q made considerable headway on various issues, but didn't work out when the MMA's main demand that Musharraf step down as army chief was not heeded.

He said the military regime was willing to concede the MMA's demand to wind up the National Security Council, but was firm on Musharraf's amendments and continuation as army chief.

"We have suggested the date of March 23, 2003, for President Musharraf to quit as chief of the army," he said. The government, however, has refused to accept the demand, saying that the president will quit according to circumstances.

The MMA chief said that Pakistan isn't a true democracy if it has a president in uniform. Having failed to strike a deal with the PML-Q, the MMA entered into a dialogue with the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians headed by former premier Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Muslim League faction headed by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharief.

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