Pakistan’s President Musharraf resigns to avoid impeachment

The former army chief, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, was under huge pressure from the governing coalition to step down before it launched the first impeachment proceedings in Pakistan's 61-year history.    Â

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Musharraf made the shock announcement after denying that any of the impeachment charges against him could stand and launching into a lengthy defense of his time in power.

 

The long-running crisis surrounding Musharraf's future has heightened concern in the United States and other allies about the stability of the nuclear-armed Muslim state, which is in the front line of the campaign against Islamist militancy.

 

"After viewing the situation and consulting legal advisers and political allies, with their advice I have decided to resign," Musharraf, wearing a sober suit and tie, said near the end of his one-hour address. "I leave my future in the hands of the people."

 

"Not a single charge in the impeachment can stand against me," Musharraf said. "No charge can be proved against me because I never did anything for myself, it was all for Pakistan."

 

He said that there was now law and order in the country, that human rights and democracy had been improved and that Pakistan was now a crucial country internationally.

 

Musharraf later received a final guard of honor from troops at the presidency as a brass band played the national anthem.

 

HIS POULARITY SLUMPS

Musharraf's popularity slumped last year amid his attempts to oust the country's chief justice and then during a wave of Taliban suicide bombings that killed more than 1,000 people, including former premier Benazir Bhutto.

 

He imposed a state of emergency in November last year to force his re-election to another five-year term through the Supreme Court, but his political allies were trounced at the February polls.

 

The coalition of parties, which won the February election, led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, finally overcame months of divisions and agreed to impeach Musharraf on Aug. 7.

 

It piled on the pressure with no-confidence votes in Pakistan's four provincial assemblies last week. Then on Sunday it said it had drawn up impeachment charges and would lodge them in parliament this week.

 

The charges reportedly included violation of the constitution and gross misconduct.

 

Musharraf’s spokesman had repeatedly denied in recent days that he was about to quit, and it was not immediately clear what would happen next.

 

But a lack of apparent support from Pakistan's army, which he left in November, apparently made other options -- including dissolving parliament or even declaring another state of emergency -- impossible.

 

The U.S. said granting asylum to Musharraf was not currently under consideration. The earlier reports suggested an exile deal could send him to Turkey, where he spent some of his childhood.

 

Western allies want Pakistan to resolve the crisis over Musharraf so it can deal with the fight against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where nearly 500 people have died in the past week.

 

The government is also struggling to deal with a severe economic crunch.

 

CELEBRATIONS

Cheering crowds poured into the streets in major cities across the country -- the second most populous Islamic nation and the only one with an atom bomb -- after he stepped down.

 

"The nation is so happy," university student Saba Gul was quoted by AFP as saying in the eastern city of Lahore, as people embraced and handed out sweets.

 

U.S. COMMENT

 

The United States also praised Monday Musharraf for his role in the fight against terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Musharraf "one of the world's most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism", after his resignation.

 

She said the United States would continue working with the Pakistani government and political leaders to fight extremism, address energy and food shortages, and improve economic stability.

 

AFGHANISTAN'S REACTION

Afghanistan said Monday it hoped the resignation of Musharraf in neighboring Pakistan would lead to a strengthening of the government and democracy in the country.

"We hope that the resignation of President Musharraf... leads to a strengthening of the civilian government and democracy in Pakistan," foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told AFP.

"Afghanistan is in favor of a democratic and stable Pakistan which is based on the rule of law," Baheen said.

Relations between Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have been tense over a surge in Islamic extremist violence affecting both countries.

Karzai has repeatedly accused Pakistan’s intelligence services of supporting a Taliban-led insurgency against his administration and Afghan officials have accused Islamabad of not doing enough to clamp down on militant sanctuaries.