PRESIDENT Gen. Pervez Musharraf could quit as chief of Pakistan’s army and take oath as a civilian president by Saturday, a senior official said yesterday.

The Supreme Court is expected to clear the last legal obstacles to Musharraf’s continued rule today. The Election Commission can then confirm his victory in November’s presidential election.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Musharraf would quickly quit his army post and be sworn in for a new five-year term.

“It may happen on Saturday,” Qayyum said.

Meanwhile, opposition parties wavered yesterday on whether to boycott crucial Pakistani elections, backing off their most strident calls to shun the vote unless Musharraf ends his state of emergency.

The government continued to roll back a wave of repression, freeing several hundred more opponents across the country, as the president returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia to discuss the future of an exiled rival, Nawaz Sharif.

There were also fresh arrests yesterday. Wajihuddin Ahmed, a former Supreme Court judge who was the only candidate against Musharraf in the October presidential election, was taken into custody in Islamabad along with Athar Minallah, an opposition lawyer.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto deferred a decision on whether to spurn the election, which she has said cannot be legitimate if the emergency continues.

Musharraf has vowed to step down as military chief — possibly in the next few days — and remain on as a civilian president, a crucial step that became easier after a newly constituted Supreme Court stacked with Musharraf loyalists on Monday dismissed legal challenges to his re-election as head of state.

The court met again yesterday to consider whether emergency rule was legal, but adjourned without making a decision.

Bhutto said late Tuesday that it would be a “good sign” if Musharraf quits his army post, and avoided criticizing him directly. She said her party needed a few more days to decide whether to boycott the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Musharraf flew back early yesterday after meeting with Saudi King Abdullah. Saudi officials said efforts had been made to arrange a meeting between Musharraf and Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister by the general’s 1999 coup.

A Pakistani official said Musharraf’s goal was to prevent Sharif from returning before the parliamentary elections. Sharif’s party suggested he had snubbed the general.

Many high-ranking party activists and leaders, such as cricket star turned politician Imran Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, remained in prison.

(SD-Agencies)