
President General Pervez Musharraf will relinquish the charge of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on Wednesday and hand over command of the Pakistan Army to the new COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. A formal handing-taking over ceremony will be held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in the presence of all the top-ranking military officers. It has already been announced that VCOAS General Kayani would assume the command on vacation of the office of COAS by General Pervez Musharraf, who is now honouring his promise made with the nation. As prelude to this change, President General Pervez Musharraf began Tuesday a round of farewell calls by visiting various military headquarters in keeping with the military traditions. It is unprecedented that a sitting president holding two offices will doff his uniform and take oath as a civilian president for the second term on Thursday at Aiwan-e-Sadr. His decision is being widely hailed as dignified and graceful way to bring about change of command.President General Musharraf commenced his calls by a visit to the Joint Staff Headquarters where he was received by Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid. He was presented guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of the tri-services. He reviewed the parade after which he met Director Generals of the Joint Staff Headquarters. Souvenirs were exchanged at the end of the visit.Later, President Musharraf paid a farewell visit to the Naval Headquarters. On arrival at the Naval Headquarters, General Musharraf was presented a guard of honour. He met Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir and the Principal Staff Officers. They also exchanged souvenirs. In his last visit today, General Musharraf visited the Air Headquarters where he was presented a guard of honour. He met Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed and other senior officers at the Air Headquarters after which souvenirs were exchanged. Online adds: President General Parvez Musharraf has said that the country’s defense is impregnable and the nuclear and missile programme would continue to progress in order to maintain minimum deterrence. He expressed these views while addressing a dinner hosted by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Tariq Majid in his honor here on Tuesday. Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammedmian Soomro, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, federal ministers, chiefs of armed forces and other high-ranking officials also attended. President General Parvez Musharraf while addressing as army chief thanked the leadership of armed forces and applauded the efforts of Joint Staff Headquarters for the country’s defence. He further said that he always honored solidarity of Pakistan and never compromised on national interests. On the occasion, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Tariq Majid lauded the services of President Musharraf as army chief.
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