Musharraf set for civilian rule Thursday: Official

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf is set to take a new oath as a civilian president on Thursday, officials said, which would end eight years as a leader in uniform.   

"My information is that he will take the oath as a civilian president on Thursday," Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum said.   

He said Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, would resign as army chief before swearing himself in.   

Last week the purged Supreme Court rubber-stamped Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election, clearing the way for him to serve a further five years in office.   

Qayyum said the defence ministry was expected Monday or Tuesday to issue a formal notification of his impending resignation from the army.   

"We expect today hopefully the notification will be issued," Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Qureshi confirmed.   

"If it is received today, then one can expect the handing over and taking over (as army chief) could take place tomorrow or the day after," he said.   

That, in turn, would allow for the swearing-in on Thursday.   

The oath will be administered by Pakistan's new chief justice, who was appointed after Musharraf sacked his predecessor for refusing to endorse his November 3 state of emergency.   

The military ruler, a crucial US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has been under intense international pressure since then to call off the emergency and hang up his uniform before becoming a civilian leader.