General Musharraf bids farewell to troops

The former commando grabbed power by deposing the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. He was appointed as army chief on October 7, 1998 by Sharif, who promoted him over several other senior officers.

The two men soon fell out over differences on various issues, including the incursion into the Kargil area of Jammu and Kashmir that was planned and executed by Musharraf.

General Musharraf, 64, the longest serving army chief after late Gen Zia-ul-Haq, will hand over charge to Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani tomorrow at a ceremony at the army8217;s General Headquarters in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Kiyani, the former Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief, was appointed vice chief of the army last month by Musharraf.

The military ruler began his farewell calls with a visit today to the Joint Staff Headquarters at Chaklala in Rawalpindi. He was presented a guard of honour and met the Directors General of the Joint Staff Headquarters.

Musharraf then met Gen Tariq Majid, the officer he appointed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee last month, and discussed military matters. He also went to the naval and air force headquarters in Islamabad and thanked the chiefs of the two services for their support.