Musharraf expects to quit army this month, rule as a civilian

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Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday said, he expects to step down as the army chief by the end of November, and begin a new presidential term as a civilian, warning that the country risked chaos, if he gave into opposition demands to resign, reports The Associated Press (AP) from Rawalpindi.
In an interview with AP, the military ruler accused former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, currently under house arrest, of fueling political turmoil, and rejected Western pressure to quickly lift emergency rule, which he indicated was likely to continue through January elections.
"All those who are blunt enough to tell me to my face what the reality is, all of them think, yes, it will lead the country to chaos, if I do not handle the political environment now with me remaining as the president," he said at his army office.
The US-backed general had originally planned to quit as chief of the powerful army by Thursday, when his presidential mandate and the term of the current parliament expire, but said, he was forced to delay the restoration of civilian rule until a court ruling on his recent re-election.