President Pervez Musharraf named his most trusted army ally to succeed him as head of the military yesterday, tightening his grip on power ahead of this weekend’s presidential elections.

The embattled leader also granted Benazir Bhutto, the exiled former Prime Minister, an amnesty from prosecution for corruption, which could clear the way for her to return to the frontline of politics later this month.

More than 80 opposition MPs resigned yesterday in protest at President Musharraf’s plan to stand for re-election as president and to step down as army chief only if he is granted another five-year term.

They hope to deny the election legitimacy, but are unlikely to succeed because supporters of the President have a majority in the national and provincial assemblies, which choose the president.

Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

The team from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have backed the claim that Benazir Bhutto was not shot

Multimedia

• Pictures: death of Benazir Bhutto

• Pictures: Pakistan

Background

• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

• Bhutto escapes as bombers kill 126

• Timeline: Pakistan's period of turmoil

• The man out to oust a President

• Internal crisis gives Pakistan reason for hope

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The appointment of General Ashfaq Kiyani, the head of intelligence, as Vice-Chief of Army Staff, and the promotion of other loyalists to key posts, are President Musharraf’s latest attempts to bypass constitutional challenges to allow him to stay on as president after his term expires this month.

He has been in talks with Ms Bhutto for a year, with the backing of Britain and the US, who see the pact as the best chance of preserving a pro-Western government with a semblance of democracy.

His plan depends on Ms Bhutto’s support, however, and it was not clear yesterday whether conditions were attached to the amnesty or whether it would satisfy Ms Bhutto, who plans to return on October 18 after fleeing corruption charges in 1999. Her Pakistan People’s Party could not confirm talks had reopened, or that the offer was genuine. “We’ve heard similar things before,” Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman, told The Times. “We don’t know its exact format — I think they’re trying to create confusion.”

President Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in October 1999, has pledged to give up his military position by November 15, if re-elected. That would make the low-profile General Kiyani one of the most powerful public figures in the country, along with the President and whoever emerges as prime minister.

The head of the Army has traditionally been a powerful figure in Pakistan, which has alternated between weak civilian governments and military rule in its 60-year history. Analysts have speculated that President Musharraf’s power as a civilian will wane as politicians gravitate to the new chief of the Army.

Before the promotion, General Kiyani was head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the hugely influential spy agency. The ISI, which has thrived under military rule, helps to steer foreign policy and promotes the military’s political agenda at home.

General Kiyani’s record suggests that he will be loyal to President Musharraf. The son of a non-commissioned officer, from the army town of Rawalpindi, he climbed rapidly through the ranks. He trained in the US, and has worked closely with the US and Britain in fighting al-Qaeda. Under him, the ISI scored a notable victory with the arrest in 2005 of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the senior al-Qaeda lieutenant who has masterminded attempts on President Musharraf’s life.

A chain-smoker, fond of golf and fluent in English, General Kiyani is thought of as solidly pro-Western, and Western diplomats describe him as a tough professional. But he is known as a man of few words and kept a low profile until last month when President Musharraf sent him to London to broker a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto — he failed, although he was hardly the first.

“He is not driven by political ambition,” said a senior official who has worked closely with him. “He fits ideally into Musharraf’s transition plan.” President Musharraf showered praise on General Kiyani last year in his autobiography In the Line of Fire, crediting him with tracking down those behind the assassination attempts, and describing him as one of the Army’s most competent officers. “When Kiyani got tough, the problems of co-ordination disappeared and the agencies started working like a well-oiled machine,” he said.

His appointment comes at a time when Pakistan is under severe pressure from the US to do more to combat al-Qaeda and Taleban on the lawless Afghan border.

President Musharraf also needs a top officer who can revive a demoralised Army. In the past two months, suicide bombers have killed more than 200 soldiers and tribal militants have captured more than 250 as hostages. General Kiyani, well liked throughout the Army, could turn it around, analysts believe.

In that lies his value to President Musharraf, and his potential threat.

How Pakistan votes

— Pakistan’s president is elected by a college made up of the Parliament and four provincial assemblies

— Parliament consists of the Senate and the National Assembly. The 342 members of the National Assembly are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms

— Sixty seats are reserved for women, ten for minorities. The 100 members of the Senate are elected by provincial legislators. They also serve four-year terms

— Votes will be cast simultaneously in all of the assemblies on October 6. The vote is by secret ballot

— The successful presidential candidate is elected for a five-year term, and cannot serve more than two terms

— General Pervez Musharraf is Pakistan’s 11th president since the country became a republic in 1956

Sources: electionguide.org ; infopak.gov.pk ; Times archives

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