(21 Nov 2007) SHOT LIST:
1. Pakistan Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum entering room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Malik Mohammed Qayyum, Pakistan Attorney General:
"After the decision immediately the president will take oath of office for the second term and he will do that as civilian because before doing it he will give up his uniform and all this entire process shouldn't take more than three, four or five days, by the maximum in the next week it will be all over."
3. Qayyum leaving
STORY LINE:
General Pervez Musharraf could quit as chief of Pakistan's army and take oath as a civilian president by Saturday, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Attorney general Malik Mohammed Qayyum told AP Television : "He will give up his uniform and the entire process shouldn't take more than, three, four or five days. By the maximum, by next week it will be all over."
Musharraf's resignation from the army would meet a key demand of critics at home and abroad of his imposition of emergency rule.
The Pakistan Supreme Court is expected to clear the last legal obstacles to Musharraf's continued rule on Thursday.
The Election Commission could then confirm his victory in a disputed presidential election held in October.
After purging the Supreme Court of dissenting judges, Musharraf has reined back some of the most draconian elements of what many legal experts are describing as a bout of martial law.
Law Minister Afzal Hayder said on Wednesday the government had freed 5,634 political activists and anti-government lawyers, leaving 623 people in custody.
Those freed included Imran Khan, former cricketer turned opposition leader.
To stave off diplomatic isolation, Pakistan on Wednesday asked the Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies to delay a decision on whether to suspend the country from the organisation.
Foreign ministers from the 53-nation Commonwealth, meeting in Kampala, Uganda, were expected to take up the issue of Pakistan on Thursday.
At home, Musharraf is manoeuvring to prevent his two most dangerous critics, former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, from forming a powerful opposition alliance against him.
Many analysts now believe that Musharraf could still team up with Bhutto, also under pressure from Washington to moderate her rhetoric. She said on Tuesday it would be 'a good sign' if if Musharraf quit his army post.
But anti-government protests are far from over, with reports of tear gas and baton charges in the eastern city of Faisalabad on Wednesday, with unrest also reported in the southwestern city of Quetta and fighting with pro-Taliban militants in Swat.

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