An emotional Pervez Musharraf passed a ceremonial baton to his successor Wednesday, fulfilling a long-delayed promise to step down as Pakistan’s military chief.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, right, presents the change of command baton to newly appointed army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani on Wednesday during a ceremony in Rawalpindi.
The president handed over command of one of the world’s largest armies to the hand-picked Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, and appeared to blink back tears as he bid farewell to the forces he sent into the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
“I’m proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world’s best army,” Musharraf said, a day before he is set to be sworn in as a civilian president. “I will no longer command ... but my heart and my mind will always be with you.”
The move, which ended his more than 40 years in the army, casts him into uncertain waters, with rivals snapping at his heels and the militants he has sworn to fight after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States contesting ever more of his country’s territory along the Afghan border.
Musharraf’s retirement from the military has been a key opposition demand and the move may help defuse a possible boycott of parliamentary elections in January by parties opposed to his rule – MSNBC News 2:45 a.m. ET November 28, 2007.
Boost Your Self Confidence
Make Animated Banner
No comments:
Post a Comment