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Sharief may end Musharraf's tenure

Amid reports of an ongoing tiff between the government and the army, speculation is rife that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief is looking for a general who could be made a full-time chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, a post being held temporarily by Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf at present.

General Pervez's one-year tenure as the CJCSC ends in April next year but there is speculation that Sharief might cut it short and appoint a full-time CJCSC who would be made the operational head for the Nuclear Command Authority of Pakistan.

The News had reported recently that although the chiefs of the navy and air force have traditionally been posted as CJCSC, the prime minister is inclined to give this post to a four-star general.

The constitution empowers the prime minister to promote any of the serving lieutenant generals as a general and post him as the army chief or CJCSC. At present there are three probables, reportedly, all close to the prime minister.

They are Lieutenant General Tariq Pervez (corps commander, Quetta), Lieutenant General Ziauddin Ahmed (director general of Inter-Services Intelligence) and Lieutenant General Salim Hyder (corps commander, Mangla).

Lieutenant General Tariq Pervez is a younger brother of Federal Communications Minister Raja Nadir Pervez. Lieutenant General Ziauddin Ahmed is from Lahore and shares Sharief's Kashmiri background. Lieutenant General Hyder is also said to be close to the prime minister, according to The News.

UNI

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