WASHINGTON, Aug 24: Gen Pervez Musharraf will honour a pledge to step down as army chief shortly after presidential elections, a senior Pakistani official told the US media.

Syed Anwar Mahmood, the federal information secretary, said in an interview that the general would relinquish his post as chief of the army staff in December, as mandated by the Supreme Court.

“There is a strong feeling that the coming elections should be a smooth transition of power to the next government,” Mr Mahmood told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

“President Gen Musharraf will be quitting as the army’s chief of staff at the end of the year. He has said so himself,” Mr Mahmood said.

Mr Mahmood also appealed for understanding from US critics over Pakistan’s fight with militants in its loosely controlled border regions with Afghanistan.

He said the Pakistan army had stepped up its campaign against militant strongholds, but said the government had not totally abandoned a widely criticized 2006 plan to use local tribal leaders to contain the extremists.