'Musharraf to quit army after polls'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf will quit as army chief after securing a second term as president, his chief lawyer told the Supreme Court here on Tuesday.

The announcement by lawyer Sharfuddin Pirzada, a long-term Musharraf aide, was read out during a court hearing into opposition challenges to Musharraf's plans for re-election in uniform.

"If elected for a second term as president, Musharraf shall relinquish charge of (the post of) chief of army staff soon after elections and before taking the oath of president for the second term," he said in the statement.