Islamabad, Jan 15: Former Pakistan Army chief Gen (Retd) Mirza Aslam Beg has said that Pakistan military officers could not meet President Pervez Musharraf without the prior approval of Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani.

Gen (Retd.) Beg was commenting on Gen Kayani’s recent directive to ban army officers from meeting and receiving politicians.

He added that it was a standard procedure and part of Army discipline "to keep an eye on the ambitious officers who try to build contacts and exploit them".

Citing an example whereby in the capacity of Army Chief Musharraf had removed an army officer, he further said: "Musharraf had removed Lt-Gen (Retd) Tariq Pervez when he met the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif without his approval."

He further said that Gen Kayani’s letter was meant to tell people that the Army would stay away from public affairs, but it would have been a better option to directly tell the corps commanders to stay away from politics. (ANI)