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| Musharraf names new head of army | Musharraf names new head of army |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has named his successor to take over as army chief, the military says. | Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has named his successor to take over as army chief, the military says. |
| The appointee is former head of intelligence Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told the BBC. | The appointee is former head of intelligence Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told the BBC. |
| Gen Musharraf will resign as head of the army if he wins presidential elections on Saturday, his lawyers say. | Gen Musharraf will resign as head of the army if he wins presidential elections on Saturday, his lawyers say. |
| Opposition parties say his candidacy is illegal and that he has broken previous promises to resign as army chief. | Opposition parties say his candidacy is illegal and that he has broken previous promises to resign as army chief. |
| Lt Gen Ashfaq Kiani has been appointed the chief of army staff-designate Maj Gen Waheed Arshad, Military spokesman | |
| Lt Gen Kiani has been appointed deputy chief of army staff and will take over the top post when it falls vacant, the military says. | |
| The general headed Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency from 2004 until last month and took part in secret talks on a possible power sharing deal between President Musharraf and former PM Benazir Bhutto. | |
| The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says Lt Gen Kiani earned Gen Musharraf's confidence when he headed the investigation into two attempts on the president's life in December 2003, bringing a number of suspects to trial in a secret military court. | |
| Boycott | |
| News of the appointment came as more than 80 opposition MPs resigned from Pakistan's national parliament in protest at Saturday's presidential election. | |
| They insist that President Pervez Musharraf is ineligible to stand. | |
| Meanwhile two rival candidates for Saturday's election have filed fresh petitions in the Supreme Court against Gen Musharraf's candidacy. | |
| Last Friday the court dismissed a number of petitions, in a move seen as a major victory for the president. | |
| The president is elected by MPs from the national assembly and Pakistan's four provincial assemblies. | |
| Correspondents say that the resignations make it even more certain that Gen Musharraf will win the vote. |