the-scenes efforts to secure an acceptable guarantee of “safe passage” – not exile – and indemnity for President Pervez Musharraf may delay the announcement of his resignation speech, an informed source said. Saudi Gazette's source said Musharraf is refusing to accept exile. He has two conditions: first, that he be entitled to stay in his house in Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad and be provided full security and privileges as allowed under law to all presidents; and second, that cast-iron guarantees of indemnity from any action against him following his resignation be provided, preferably through an act of parliament. The government on Thursday rejected Musharraf's Independence Day appeal for reconciliation and vowed to impeach him if he fails to quit. At a function overnight marking the 62ND Independence Day of Pakistan, Musharraf said: “It's my appeal that we should adopt a reconciliatory approach so that stability should return,” Musharraf told the gathering. But Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, in a speech after the traditional hoisting of the national flag in Islamabad, made it clear that the governmen'ts “policy of reconciliation” did not apply to Musharraf. “The period of oppression is over forever. Dictatorship has become a story of the past,” Gilani said. Nawaz Sharif – who was ousted by Musharraf in a military coup in 1999 and is now leader of the second biggest party in the ruling coalition – said the president had “trampled on the constitution” and had to go. “There is no safe passage for him now,” he told a rally in Lahore, referring to suggestions that Musharraf should be allowed to go into exile to avoid possible criminal charges. Saudi Gazette's source said the army high command is standing by Musharraf on his two demands. The coalition partners are divided on the issue of what sort of indemnity and safe passage be provided, with Sharif taking a harder line than Asif Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf's international friends are also running around to help both sides devise an acceptable formula for his “safe passage,” the source said. “Either the government provide the proper guarantee quickly so that the president can resign immediately or put the impeachment process on hold until this matter is sorted out to our mutual satisfaction,” said a presidential aide. __
