Pakistan's former President Musharraf expected to go Turkey

Musharraf spent part of his youth in Ankara where his father was posted as a diplomat.

SAUDI ARABIA VISIT
Officials from both the ruling coalition and the security services also said in the wake of his resignation Musharraf would travel to close ally Saudi Arabia in the coming days to perform Muslim rites.

A senior coalition official told AFP that Musharraf would then head for London or Turkey, but his aides insisted he would return after his religious duties in the Gulf kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has denied it has a plane waiting to take Musharraf to the Muslim kingdom, a press report said on Tuesday, amid speculation Riyadh could offer him asylum.

The Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Awad Esseiri, said media reports that were a Saudi plane was in Islamabad ready to transport Musharraf were "baseless claims" and "media lies", Okaz newspaper reported.

"Saudi Arabia has been and continues to look out for the security, stability and sovereignty of Pakistan and will not interfere in its internal affairs," he was quoted as saying.

The party of Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in 1999, has said that the former president should not be granted a safe exit but the leading group in the coalition, led by the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, has remained quiet.

TROUBLES BEGIN LAST YEAR
Musharraf’s decision to quit came after the coalition said it was ready to press ahead with impeachment as early as Tuesday on charges that reportedly included violating the constitution.

His troubles began last year after his move to sack judges sparked mass protests. He declared a state of emergency in November and was compelled to quit as army chief within weeks.

He was also backed into a corner by the resurgence of Islamic militants, who launched a massive wave of attacks last year that left more than 1,000 dead in tribal areas along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

In his lengthy television address, the linchpin in the US-led "war on terror" said that charges against him would never stand up, but said he was resigning to avoid a damaging battle with the coalition over his impeachment.

Meanwhile the coalition, which defeated Musharraf’s allies in elections in February, was set to begin discussions on the next president and on the restoration of senior judges sacked under the ex-General’s emergency rule in November.

Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro -- who also served as caretaker prime minister during emergency rule -- is standing in as acting president.

An official at Pakistan’s election commission said that a new president had to be chosen within 30 days of Musharraf’s resignation.

ZARDARI FAVORITE
Bhutto’s widower and the most powerful figure in the coalition, Asif Ali Zardari, is likely too much of a divisive figure to stand for the presidency, officials in both coalition parties said.

The government was considering a candidate from one of Pakistan’s smaller provinces, the officials said, including Mehmud Khan Achakzai, from a nationalist party in southwestern Baluchistan province, and Aftab Shoban Mirani from southern Sindh province.

It could also opt for a female candidate including the speaker of the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, Fehmida Mirza, or Zardari’s sister, Faryal Talpur, the officials added.

Divisions between the coalition partners, who feuded throughout the 1990s, could further threaten Pakistan’s stability and even herald fresh elections as it combats a spiraling economic crisis and mounting Islamist militancy.

World leaders urged Pakistan to place a premium on stability and unity following Musharraf’s resignation.

"President Bush looks forward to working with the Government of Pakistan on the economic, political and security challenges they face," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement on behalf of the U.S. leader.