Pakistan Sets October 6 Election Date

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will seek a new five-year term in a presidential election set for Oct. 6, officials said Thursday, even as opponents urged the courts to stop him from running and vowed to quit Parliament in protest.

After the U.S.-allied leader signaled his plan to resign as army chief if re-elected, the Election Commission announced the ballot by federal and provincial lawmakers would be held Oct. 6.

Sadique al-Farooq, a leader of the opposition party of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif, said it would pull its lawmakers from federal and provincial assemblies immediately if the Election Commission accepts Musharraf's nomination papers.