QUETTA, Sept 18: The Balochistan Home Minister, Mir Mohammad Shoaib Nausherwani, has withdrawn a resolution he had submitted to the provincial assembly secretariat requesting President Pervez Musharraf to retain the office of the chief of army staff.

According to officials of the secretariat, the minister had personally submitted the resolution on Wednesday, but on Thursday night he informed officials of the assembly that he wanted to withdraw the resolution.

"He has not given any reason for withdrawing his resolution," sources in the assembly secretariat said on Friday. However, government sources said that the minister had submitted the resolution without consulting Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf and other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League.

The chief minister and provincial leaders of the PML expressed surprise over the 'solo fight' of the young minister and asked him to withdraw the resolution. Mir Nausherwani was not available for comment.

However, his father Abdul Karim Nausherwani, who is senior vice-president of the provincial Muslim League, said that his son had withdrawn the resolution because he had been pressurised by party president and other provincial PML leaders to do so.