"Opponents of the president say he is acting illegally.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will stay on as head of the army if he is not elected for another presidential term, his lawyer says. Speaking in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the lawyer was clarifying the general's conditional promise to remove his military uniform.

"He has taken the whole country hostage through the power of the gun," said opposition MP and former Pakistani cricket captain, Imran Khan, one of a number of people who have petitioned the court against Gen Musharraf remaining army chief and president.

In recent days security forces have arrested hundreds of activists and blocked roads leading to the capital.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US government, a close ally of President Musharraf, found the detentions "troubling".

Arf