Pakistan's Musharraf names successor to lead military, grants amnesty to ex-prime minister

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pushed ahead Tuesday with plans for an expected re-election victory, naming a trusted ally to lead the military in his place and agreeing to amnesty for a former prime minister who could become a key ally against terrorism.

Musharraf has enraged opponents by simultaneously serving as head of the army and president, and has promised to doff his uniform if he wins Saturday's vote by national and provincial lawmakers. A bloc of opposition lawmakers resigned from parliament on Tuesday, hoping their departure would rob the election of legitimacy.

Musharraf will grant former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and others amnesty as early as Wednesday in corruption cases up to 1999 in which politicians had not been convicted, said Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim. The amnesty was one of Bhutto's key demands during power-sharing negotiations, which Azim said had resumed Tuesday.

Bhutto plans to return to Pakistan from London on Oct. 18, eight years after she went into self-imposed exile to escape prosecution.

Azim said the amnesty was aimed at easing political acrimony ahead of parliamentary elections due by January. He indicated that it would also apply to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in the 1999 coup that brought Musharraf to power.

"I think in that spirit of national reconciliation we have to go through this," Azim said.

Bhutto has been charged in Pakistan with illegally amassing properties and bank accounts overseas while in power. She was also convicted of money laundering in Switzerland in July 2003 and ordered to pay $11 million to the Pakistani government. The conviction was automatically thrown out when she contested it, but the case is still under investigation.

Ruling party officials have urged Bhutto's party not to join other opposition parties in boycotting Saturday's ballot, though Musharraf's allies insist they have enough votes to win in any case.

"We have to hold the presidential election to meet a constitutional requirement and we will do it," Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said.

Maulana Fazal-ur Rahman, leader of the opposition in parliament, said Musharraf might win but would lack legitimacy. Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has faced growing opposition since March when he made a botched attempt to oust the country's chief justice.

"After our resignation, Musharraf's success would have no value," Rahman said.