Pak's Lt Gen Khalid Shamim appointed chief of general staff

Lt Gen Khalid Shamim Wyne, who will be the most senior general at the time of Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's scheduled retirement in November, has been appointed the chief of general staff.

           
The appointment coincided the change of commanders of three key army corps.

           
Wyne will replace Lt Gen Mohammad Mustafa Khan, who has been posted as commander of the Mangla-based Corps.            

Lt Gen Rashad Mehmood will be the new commander of the Lahore-based Corps while the army's Adjutant General Lt Gen Javed Zia will be the new commander of the Quetta Corps.

           
Four three-star generals are due to retire on May 1. They are Mangla Corps commander Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, Lahore Corps commander Lt Gen Ejaz Ahmad Bakshi, Lt Gen Ahsan Azhar Hayat, Director General of Training and Evaluation, and Lt Gen Sajjad Akram, deputy chief of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority.

           
Lt Gen Waheed Arshad has already been named as Hayat's successor. Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, who was recently promoted with two other three-star generals, is yet to get a posting.

           
The Dawn newspaper quoted its sources as saying there was a possibility that Rawalpindi Corps commander Lt Gen Tahir Mahmood could be posted as Adjutant General at the general headquarters and Lt Gen Haroon Aslam could be made commander of the 10 Corps in Rawalpindi in his place.

           
Maj Gen Sajjad Ghani, General Officer Commanding at the 8th Infantry Division in Mangla, one of the two divisions conducting operations against the Taliban in Swat, has been appointed as Vice-Chief of General Staff.

           
Maj Gen Nasrullah Tahir Dogar, one of 29 brigadiers recently promoted to two-star generals, has been made General Officer Commanding in Pannu Aqil.

           
Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar, another newly promoted officer, has been appointed as director Organisation and Methods at the General Headquarters.

           
Maj Gen Mohammad Asif has been appointed as General Officer Commanding of the 8th Division. Maj Gen Saeed Aleem has been appointed as Deputy Quarter Master General and Maj Gen Farrukh Basheer as GOC of the Special Services Group.