Government spokesman says Musharraf yet to decide whether to quit army before election

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has not yet decided whether to step down as army chief before an upcoming presidential election, a government spokesman said Thursday.

Asked about former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assertion that Musharraf had agreed to quit his military post and that she expected him to do so before the vote, spokesman Mohammed Ali Durrani said: "No decision has been made."

"When he will decide, he will announce it," Durrani told reporters.

The U.S.-allied general and Bhutto, a representative of Pakistan's main opposition party, are negotiating a power-sharing agreement that could end military rule eight years after Musharraf seized power in a coup.

Bhutto told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she was "very pleased that Gen. Musharraf has taken the decision to listen to the people of Pakistan by taking the decision to take off the uniform" as part of their agreement.

"I expect that he will step down (as army chief) before the presidential elections, but that is for the president to say," she said.

Earlier, Musharraf's office said he would not succumb to "pressure or ultimatum" in deciding whether to quit.

At stake is a pact that would protect Musharraf's troubled re-election bid from looming legal challenges and public disenchantment with military rule. In return, Musharraf is expected to give up his role as army chief and let Bhutto return from exile in London to contest year-end parliamentary elections.

Ministers in Pakistan have said the two sides were close to finalizing an agreement.

Musharraf has insisted that the constitution allows him to be army chief until the end of 2007 but has never made clear when — or if — he will step down.

However, Bhutto and other opposition leaders argue the constitution obliges him to give up that post before he asks lawmakers for a fresh presidential mandate in September or October.

Bhutto said that while Musharraf had also agreed to drop corruption charges against her and dozens of other parliamentarians, a remaining stumbling block is the balance of power between Parliament and the president, who can currently dismiss the prime minister and dissolve the legislature.