Musharraf steps down as army chief

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-29-2007 08:16

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf (L) takes part in a ceremony to hand over the command of the army to General Ashfaq Kayani (R) in Rawalpindi November 28, 2007. (Mian Khursheed/Reuters)

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has stepped down as chief of Pakistan's army. He will be sworn in as a civilian leader for a second five-year term on Thursday.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is widely expected to lift the state of emergency within a day or two.

Musharraf placed the country under emergency rule on November 3rd, and issued a provisional constitutional order.

Musharraf relinquished his post in a grand "change of command ceremony" at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan President, said, "I today, after 46 years of being in uniform, say goodbye to the army. From tomorrow I will not be in command, but I am definitely happy about one thing and that is I spent these 46 years with a lot dignity and happiness."

Also at the ceremony, Musharraf handed over the military's reins to a successor he anointed weeks ago, General Ashfaq Kayani, a former chief of the military-run intelligence service.

This handout picture from the military service shows Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf(R) presenting the change of command baton to newly appointed army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani during a ceremony in Rawalpindi. (AFP/ISPR)

Musharraf joined the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned in 1965. He became the army's chief of staff in 1998.

Musharraf became president of Pakistan in 2001 and was re-elected in the October presidential poll with a majority.

In line with military tradition, Musharraf carried out a round of farewell visits to the joint chiefs headquarters, the naval headquarters and the air headquarters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei