ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will decide about the appointment of new army chief on November 28, a day before the incumbent army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will leave the post after serving twice the normal three-year term for the position, Information Minister Pervez Rasheed said.
Kayani announced on October 6 that he was not seeking any more extension and would retire as scheduled on November 29. “My tenure ends on 29th November 2013. On that day I will retire. May the Almighty Allah help and guide us all,” Kayani said in a statement.
Talking to media representatives in Islamabad on Friday, the information minister said the government had received reports of the Taliban refusing to hold talks via media.
“We will wait to see if the other side releases a clarification or makes some changes to their resolve.”
The information minister, talks were between the government and Taliban and a third party could not damage the process by conducting an attack. “The drone attack cannot cause damage to the dialogue process.”
When asked about former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the information minister said Musharraf had been granted bail by the courts, he has not been released. He said that the name of the former president was still on the exit control list and he could not leave the country.
Rasheed said the Article 6 case against Musharraf was pending and investigations were underway. “If we would have started proceedings against Musharraf immediately after being elected, everyone would have called it revenge,” he added.
