By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf appointed a new chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and promoted six major generals Friday – but held back two key appointments.
Nadeem Taj, on promotion to lieutenant general, is the new ISI head. He has previously served as the military intelligence chief and as Musharraf’s military secretary.
This has led to speculation that the replaced ISI chief, Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, could either succeed Musharraf as army chief when he sheds his uniform later this year, or be made the army’s vice chief if the president continues to wear the uniform.
Kiani had played a key role in the aborted talks with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on a power-sharing deal with Musharraf on her return home from exile.
Musharraf has chosen to remain silent on Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) General Ahsan Saleem Hyat and chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Ehsan ul-Haq who are both due to retire next month.
The other five major generals who have been promoted to lieutenant general are Mohsin Kamal, Javed Zia, Jamil Haider, Shujaat Zamir Dar and Muhammad Asghar.
Kamal has been posted as Corps Commander, Rawalpindi, while Zia and Haider have been posted to General Headquarters (GHQ). Asghar has been posted as rector of the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and Dar as head of the Anti-Narcotics Force.
The reshuffle came a day after Election Commission of Pakistan announced that presidential elections would be held on Oct 6. Nomination papers can be filed on Sep 27.
The Supreme Court is also hearing several petitions challenging Musharraf’s right to hold the dual offices of president and army chief, the legality of being elected in uniform, and whether he can be re-elected by the current assemblies before they are dissolved for a general election that is due by mid-January.
On Friday two demonstrations against Musharraf were held outside the Supreme Court, one by the six-party Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) religious alliance and the other by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) party of former cricket hero Imran Khan.