‘Musharraf should quit as Army chief’

The US has said it would be a “good step” for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to relinquish the post of Army chief and emphasi...

The US has said it would be a “good step” for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to relinquish the post of Army chief and emphasised that the country should continue its transition towards a “fully functioning and stable” democracy.

“We think it would be a good step for him (Musharraf)” to quit as Army chief, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters here yesterday, in response to a question about a statement from Commonwealth ministers who criticised the General for reneging on his pledge to shed the uniform by the end of last year.

Boucher said it was in Pakistan’s interest “to continue its transition towards a fully functioning and stable democracy”. “We expect to see continuing progress towards this goal, which is central to Pakistan’s becoming a modern and moderate nation, as democracy involves more than elections and more than uniforms.”

The chief American concern was that “national elections in 2007 come off as good and open elections”, Boucher said, adding that he hoped Pakistan would strengthen its institutions, particularly Parliament and the judiciary.

Officials said that Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary-designate, Riaz Muhammad Khan, will take charge on February 15, the day External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh arrives in Islamabad on a three-day visit for talks. Khan, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to China, will succeed Riaz Khokhar, who is set to retire this week.

Meanwhile, up to 135 people were killed and hundreds were missing after Shadi Kaur Dam burst in Baluchistan on Thursday.

Forty-six people were killed today in a series of avalanches in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. More than 250 people have died in Pakistan in the last week due to severe weather.