January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Some of the retired armed forces officers, who were claimed by the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society to have been among the signatories of a resolution urging President Pervez Musharraf to step down, have distanced themselves from the resolution.

Brig (retired) Tipu Sultan, while talking to this reporter, denounced the ex-servicemen society. He said most of them had served under military dictatorship and were now posing as democrats.

He said their move was meaningless as they were not opinion makers.

Similarly, another retired officer Rear Admiral Javed Iftikhar said his name was mentioned among the signatories, though he was not even a member of the society.

Rear Admiral Iftikhar claimed that former army chief Gen Aslam Beg and naval chief Admiral Iftikhar Sirohey mentioned in the list as signatories were also not present at the meeting.

Earlier, Dawn had also pointed out that the list issued by the society was flawed as former ISI chief Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi, Lt-Gen (retired) Furrukh and Lt-Gen (retired) Qadir Baloch, mentioned in the list, had also not attended the meeting.

These revelations have put the entire exercise on part of the ex-servicemen society, an organisation originally set up for the welfare of retired armed forces personnel, into doubt.