Amir Mir
 
LAHORE: The possibility of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s despotic rule coming to an end now seems to be a matter of days.

Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, having asked his former boss call it a day in a one-on-one meeting late on Wednesday night, has removed the commander of Brigade 111, who was a known Musharraf loyalist, besides withdrawing highly-trained commandos of the Special Services Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army from the Presidential security and replacing them with jawans of the Azad Kashmir regiment.

Before his meeting with the president, military sources have confirmed, the COAS removed Brigadier Aasim Bajwa, a Musharraf loyalist and commander of the Brigade 111, which has always been instrumental in the military takeovers. Brigadier Bajwa has been replaced with a Kiyani loyalist, Brigadier Faheem Rao.

According to highly-placed military sources, the unscheduled meeting between the president and the army chief took place amid media reports that Musharraf was flexing his muscles to replace General Kiyani with one of his confidants to tilt the balance of power in his favour. Kiyani has been adamant to keep the institution of the Army neutral in the ongoing confrontation between Musharraf and Zardari.

The meeting on Wednesday night went on post midnight and lasted for more than three-and-a-half hours. Their longest ever one-on-one encounter, which is significant in view of the current political and security situation in the country, gained further importance as it took place after day-long consultations of the incumbent COAS with his corps commanders.

The military sources say Kiyani made a humble request to Musharraf on behalf of this institution to leave the Army Chief House and quit presidency as early as possible in the interest of the country. The president was also advised by his successor not to think about taking any further extra constitutional step that could aggravate the-already-fragile political situation.

Military sources even claim that Musharraf has already made up his mind to quit the presidency and he is likely to make an announcement any time. His closest aides are of the view that after losing all hope of survival in power, the president has made up his mind to lead a retired life.

They said the question of introducing an impeachment motion would not come as the president will leave office and get a safe passage, adding that the scene of the drama that started on March 9 with the removal of the chief justice of Pakistan is bound to appear any time soon.

Source : DNA