ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Islamists chanting slogans against Pakistan's military leader rallied outside the Supreme Court on Friday as judges heard petitions challenging President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's right to run for re-election.
Meanwhile, Musharraf appointed a new intelligence chief and promoted five other army generals Friday, just days after signaling he would resign from the military if re-elected.
Opposition parties have promised to stage anti-Musharraf street protests across Pakistan on Friday, claiming it would be illegal for the general, who seized power in a 1999 coup, to run.
In Islamabad, about 100 supporters of Pakistan's biggest religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, gathered outside the grand, white marble court house, shouting "Go, Musharraf, Go!"
"We will not tolerate Musharraf. We will continue our campaign against him," lawmaker Hanif Abbasi told protesters. "We will not tolerate him in or out of uniform," Abbasi said.
On Tuesday, Musharraf signaled that he would step down as army chief if he is re-elected as president -- restoring civilian rule eight years after he took power -- but opposition parties say that for him to contest the election would still violate the constitution.
A nine-member bench of judges in the Supreme Court continued Friday hearings of a slew of petitions. A ruling that could determine Musharraf's eligibility for the election is expected within days.
An electoral college comprising all federal and provincial lawmakers is to choose the next president on Oct. 6.
Musharraf's popularity has dropped since March when he made a botched effort to fire the chief justice. His administration is also struggling to contain an upsurge in Islamic militancy amid unpopularity over Pakistan's alliance with Washington.
Underscoring the threat to his government, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged Pakistanis to rebel against Musharraf in a new audiotape released Thursday, saying his military's siege of a militant mosque stronghold in July makes him an infidel.
Musharraf's current term expires Nov. 15. Before then, he is expected to name his successor in the pivotal position of army chief. Parliamentary elections are to follow by mid-January.
Under pressure from Washington to broaden the base of his government, Musharraf has held talks that could lead to him share power with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after the elections.
While the negotiations have stalled, some analysts believe the two leaders will team up to oppose the conservatives of another exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and Islamist parties bitterly opposed to Musharraf's pro-U.S. policies.
Nadeem Taj, meanwhile, who was Musharraf's military secretary when he seized power in a 1999 coup, was among those promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and will replace Ashfaq Kiani as director-general of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
The military did not say whether Kiani will be promoted or retire. He is among the top generals tipped by analysts as a possible successor to Musharraf as army chief.
Musharraf, a key ally of the U.S. in its war on terrorism, this week signaled that he will restore civilian rule if elected president in a ballot of lawmakers on Oct. 6.
However the top post in the army would remain a key position in Pakistan, which has alternated between weak civilian governments and military rule during its 60-year history.
Another possible successor, Tariq Majid, has been replaced as the corps commander of Rawalpindi -- where the army has its headquarters -- by another of the promoted generals, Mohsin Kamal.
The four other promoted generals were Javed Zia, Shujat Zamir Dar, Muhammad Asghar and Jamil Haider, according to a statement issued by the army Friday.
The promotions come ahead of the expected retirement on Oct. 7 of Musharraf's two top deputies in the army: Gen. Ehsan Ul Haq, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, and Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat, vice chief of army staff.
The military has so far has not given any indication who will replace them. Haq is the former chief of ISI and Hayat was the Karachi corps commander before he was elevated as vice army chief in 2004.
