Washington: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, facing a hostile bloc of Islamist groups and apparent threats within the military, is considering steps to reassert his authority that could have implications for the US-led war against terrorism and efforts to curb cross-border terrorism across the Line of Control, a media report said.

Islamist Opposition may be emanating from an unlikely source in addition to the Islamist parties - from within the Army, 'The Wall Street Journal' said.

The President's own No 2, General Mohammed Aziz Khan, who helped Musharraf to power in an October 1999 coup, said in a speech in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last month that Musharraf should give up either his military or his civilian position, and he warned Musharraf against "practising politics in uniform".

An Army spokesman scrambled to pre-empt speculation of a coup, saying "the comments were wrongly attributed" to General Khan. In Washington, Leonard F Scensny, Public Affairs Adviser for South Asia Affairs in the State Department, expressed "puzzlement" at General Khan's remarks.

The six-party Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has paralysed Musharraf's government since the October elections. It has refused to enact the President's policies, among them Constitutional amendments that would authorise him to disband Parliament.

PTI