ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf is set to quit as army chief and become a civilian president by the weekend, a top government official said Wednesday, as the military ruler won fresh US support.
Attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum told AFP that if the Supreme Court throws out a final challenge Thursday to Musharraf's re-election as expected, he would hang up his uniform within days.
Separately, Musharraf moved to give a solid legal footing to his November 3 declaration of emergency rule, issuing an amendment to the constitution which says it cannot be over-ruled in court.
"If the Supreme Court lifts the stay order against his re-election, then President Musharraf is likely to take the oath as a civilian president by Saturday or Sunday," Qayyum said.
"Once the court decides, the notification (of his victory) can be issued in a day or two and then he should take the oath this weekend."
The Pakistani leader has been under intense international pressure led by the United States to end the state of emergency, quit as army chief, hold fair elections and free political prisoners.
Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, has promised to quit his army post as soon as the Supreme Court dismisses all the challenges so his victory can be officially validated.
Wednesday's ordinance could accelerate the process by shoring up his legal position.
It amends the constitution to specify that the imposition of emergency rule was "validly made," and "shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever."
"The presidential order issued today has ratified and validated the action taken on November 3," Qayyum told AFP.
The Supreme Court -- now filled with hand-picked judges after most of the incumbent justices were sacked -- is expected Thursday to throw out challenges to emergency rule as well as the last of six lawsuits contesting Musharraf's re-election last month.
On Tuesday, authorities set general elections for January 8 and announced the release of more than 3,400 prisoners detained under emergency rule, with another 2,000 to be released "soon."
That step was welcomed by US President George W. Bush who said Musharraf -- a key ally in the fight against Islamic extremism -- "hasn't crossed the line" where he would lose Washington's support.
"I think he truly is somebody who believes in democracy," Bush told US television.
He expressed confidence Musharraf would end emergency rule and return Pakistan toward democracy, saying he had always found him to be "a man of his word."
Musharraf returned Wednesday from oil giant Saudi Arabia after talks with King Abdullah.
A Pakistani diplomatic source told AFP that Musharraf had asked the Saudis to rein in former premier Nawaz Sharif, who has been in exile there since he was toppled by his arch enemy in a 1999 coup.
Pakistan's main opposition leaders meanwhile are still deciding whether to boycott the January 8 general election.
Sharif has said it was "not possible" to participate under emergency rule. Benazir Bhutto, another former premier who heads the largest opposition group, said she would make her decision by Thursday.
In Pakistan's northwest, troops wiped out a mountaintop militant base and killed at least 40 followers of a pro-Taliban cleric, the military said.
The army says about 190 people have been killed during more than a week of fighting in the Swat Valley area, which has been partly occupied by militants seeking Islamic Sharia law.
Musharraf cited Islamic militancy -- as well as an interfering judiciary -- as the reasons for imposing emergency rule.
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