"In my opinion the president should remain in uniform in the national interest," state-run Asso-ciated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted him as telling reporters here.

Aziz said the constitution did not bar Musharraf from holding the dual posts of president and army chief, and if needed the government would enact a law to meet legal technicalities, according to APP.

"There is no hitch in the constitution if the president opts so."

He said Musharraf would make a final decision himself.

"National interests are always supreme, and since it is in the larger interest of the country, everyone should support it," said Aziz, a close ally of Musharraf who became prime minister last month.

A cabinet minister had announced on Wednesday that Musharraf would not stand down as army chief but he later clarified that he meant to say he hoped the president would retain command of the armed forces.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid issued the clarification after he announced at a news conference that Musharraf had decided to remain in uniform.

"What I wanted to clarify is that it is not a decision taken by President Musharraf, it is our hope that he will accept the decision by the provincial assembly of Punjab," Rashid told AFP.

Punjab's provincial legislature on Monday urged Musharraf not to step down as army chief by the end of the year, saying he should stay on to combat terrorism.

Opposition parties and rights groups believe it would be a blow to the nascent and fragile democratic process if Musharraf were to remain army chief.

Such a step would mean the military retaining its dominant role in the politics of Pakistan, which has been ruled for more than half of its 57 years by the military, they said.

A spokesman for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said it was evident from the announcements by Rashid that Musharraf would not shed his uniform.

"A president holding the office of army chief is unconstitutional, illegal and a mockery of democracy," PPP spokesman senator Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

"We will oppose it on all forums," Babar said.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, promised to relinquish his military role by this December under a deal with the six-party Islamic alliance of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

Under the deal the MMA agreed to support a parliamentary vote to approve constitutional changes empowering the president to sack the government and to dissolve the elected parliament.

The Islamic parties had paralysed parliament for almost a year before the deal was reached.

Musharraf said last week "96 percent" of Pakistanis wanted him to abandon his pledge to become a civilian ruler, without giving a source for the figure.

The president, who believes he should stay in uniform to help with the fight against extremists, said he would make a decision based on the constitution, popular demand and national stability.

Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism, has deployed some 70,000 troops in the rugged tribal belt near the Afghan border to hunt down Al-Qaeda militants and their allies.