Musharraf 'ready to go with dignity'

Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf, threatened by possible impeachment, is reconciled to stepping down before he is hounded out of office, according to a senior adviser to the new government.
Musharraf, who came to power as a general after a coup in 1999, has probably got a matter of weeks, at most a few months, before the curtain falls, political insiders say.
"He is prepared to go and go with dignity," said the source close to the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which heads the two-month-old coalition government.
"We will try to make it very dignified," the PPP source said, adding it was politically difficult to be seen helping the disliked president as such a stance risked losing popular support.
The United States has good communications with Musharraf's successor as army chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani.
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Foreign allies, including the United States, are pressing for a transition to civilian-led democracy which avoids further upheaval in the country.
In the post-Musharraf era, the country faces challenges beyond the constant threat from Islamist militants linked to the Al Qaida and the Taliban.
Package
PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of the late Benazir Bhutto, has proposed a constitutional package that would strip Musharraf of power, but possibly afford him legal protection from foes who want to see him humiliated.
The PPP hopes to buy time to settle terms for the president's departure and steal the thunder from coalition partner Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew. Sharif wants his usurper impeached or tried for treason.
Officials say Musharraf wants indemnity for his actions of November 3, 2007, when he suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule to purge the judiciary before it could rule illegal his re-election the previous month while still army chief.
Mass protest
Some segments of the media have intensified calls for Musharraf to resign, and a lawyers movement that sprang up last year in defence of the judiciary plans a mass protest on June 10, the same day the government is due to present its budget.
Independent analyst Nasim Zehra saw few options left for Musharraf.
"I think he has no cards left," she said. "General Musharraf may be compelled to think of resigning sooner rather than later."
A general election on February 18 swept away Musharraf's parliamentary support and resulted in an uneasy alliance between Zardari and Sharif.(Gulf news)