Musharraf yet to make Army decision: Govt

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has not yet decided whether to step down as Army chief before the Presidential election, amid claims by former premier Benazir Bhutto that the General has agreed to shed his uniform as part of a power-sharing deal.

"On the uniform issue, the President will take a decision on the basis of law, there is no decision yet," Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said after meeting Musharraf.

"When he will decide, he will announce it," Durrani said.

In a series of interviews, Bhutto claimed that most issues with Musharraf had been resolved including that he has agreed to doff his uniform before the Presidential elections.

In the latest interview to Britain's Guardian newspaper, Bhutto said 'a lot of progress has been made, particularly on the uniform. But it's for the President to make an announcement.'

Durrani's remarks on the uniform issue came on a day when Musharraf rejected 'any pressure or ultimatum' in making a decision about quitting as Army Chief.

"While the President believes in dialogue and deliberations on all important national issues, he never works under any pressure or ultimatum," Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Qureshi said in a statement on Thursday.

"The President would make all decisions only in national interest at appropriate times according to the Constitution and the law," he said in the first official reaction from Musharraf's side on the power-sharing talks with Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

The spokesman's comments came in the backdrop of reports that Bhutto's calls for concrete commitments by Friday amounted to an ultimatum to decide whether to remove uniform.

"There are no ultimatums, but we need to know where we stand by then," Bhutto has said.