NEW YORK: If Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf wins the October 6 presidential polls and keeps his pledge to remove his uniform, a westernised, chain-smoking spy could soon become the most powerful man in the country.
Musharraf is widely believed to have chosen former ISI chief Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani as his successor to head the army, says Newsweek in its upcoming issue.
Although Kiyani has always kept a low public profile, people who have worked closely with him speak highly of his abilities - more highly in some cases than his boss might like, the magazine says.
"Kiyani is not only a strong commander, he's the most competent candidate by far," a Western military official in Islamabad was quoted as saying.
The Pentagon, Newsweek says, wants him to turn much of Pakistan's military into a counter-insurgency force, trained and equipped to combat al Qaeda and its extremist supporters along the Afghan border.
As a civilian head of state, Musharraf will need a strong, capable top officer who can revive the fighting spirit of a badly demoralised army, the report says, noting that in the past two months, suicide bombers have relentlessly attacked army convoys, camps, mess halls and mosques.
The extremists have killed more than 200 Pakistani soldiers, and tribal militants have captured more than 250 others as hostages.
"The army has had its butt kicked in the tribal area," the Western military official was quoted as saying. "But I'm optimistic that if Musharraf's choice is Kiyani, he can start to turn the army around."
