Pakistan army to ask Pervez Musharraf to resign

Pakistan's all-powerful army chief will ask President Pervez Musharraf to resign from office within a week, a senior government official claimed today. By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad The claim was supported by a former military aide to the president who said that the army's leadership wished Mr Musharraf to be spared the humiliation of impeachment. The civilian government intensified an attritional, seven-month long power struggle with the presidency when it announced earlier this week that it is to begin impeachment proceedings against Mr Musharraf on Monday. The twin arbiters of power in Pakistan, the army chief of staff, Gen Ashfaq Kiyani, and America, which has provided dollars 12 billion in military aid to the country in the last six years, have publicly declared themselves to be neutral on Pakistan's domestic... [read full story]