Musharraf, the army chief-cum-president who seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999, looks more determined than ever to retain his dual posts, in the face of opposition outrage, to push through his agenda of stamping out Islamic militancy and pursuing peace with India, they said.

For months Musharraf has been hinting in media interviews that he may abandon a pledge to shed his uniform by December 31 -- a promise made late last year in a deal to win the support of Islamist parties.

He says Pakistan needs him in the strong position that leadership of the army gives him because he has to tackle sensitive issues like resolving the 56-year-old dispute with India over Kashmir, crushing Islamic extremism and weeding out Al-Qaeda militants.

The deal he struck with opposition lawmakers last year would allow him to remain civilian president until 2007.

In the surprise weekend shake up Musharraf promoted the head of Pakistan's premier spy agency, Lieutenant General Ehsanul Haq, to chairman of the armed forces' joint chiefs of staff.

He also promoted the army chief of commercial capital Karachi, Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, to deputy army chief. Hayat survived an Al-Qaeda-linked assassination attempt early June when gunmen opened fire on his convoy, killing 11 people.

The two generals they are replacing will retire.

Lieutenant General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was named as the new head of the spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, which directs Pakistan's Al-Qaeda hunt.

The changes show that Musharraf has a "firm grip on the army and is very unlikely to quit" as army chief, former interior minister and retired general Moinuddin Haider said.

"This fresh appointment indicates that Musharraf would like to continue as army chief," Haider told AFP.

"Musharraf will now have time to implement his agenda with ease."

Defence analyst Talat Masood, another former general, told AFP: "These promotions indicate his intention not to quit as army chief... He certainly has strengthened his hold on power."

The top-level military changes came a day after Pakistan's main fundamentalist party Jamaat-i-Islami warned it would launch a protest campaign to dislodge Musharraf if he did not abdicate as army chief.

Musharraf draws most of his power from the army, and analysts say that without the army behind him he would rapidly lose legitimacy as he was never elected to the presidency.

"Musharraf feels that without uniform he may not be powerful enough to address issues like Kashmir or take bold decisions against terrorism," senior political analyst Monis Aamir said.

"It appears that the army does not want to give a chance to democracy, nor does it want to lose its grip on power."

Professor Mutahair Ahmed of Karachi University's international relations department believed the international community would likely tolerate any decision by Musharraf to break his pledge.

"For the United States and Western countries the issue of his uniform is an internal matter for Pakistan and they are unlikely to react if Musharraf decides to stay as army chief," Ahmed said.

"The face of a powerful Musharraf is important for them with or without uniform."

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