LAHORE, April 17: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal will not accept the president in uniform after Dec 31, deputy secretary-general Liaqat Baloch said on Saturday. The alliance has neither entered into any agreement with the government on uniform or the National Security Council issues , Mr Baloch told newsmen at a press conference here.

He warned Gen Musharraf against keeping both the offices of the president and the army chief. Any attempt on the advice of 'unwise' friends would cost the general both the offices.

There was an 'internal group' which wanted earlier departure of Gen Musharraf from the army post, Mr Baloch said but he did not elaborate.

Keeping or abandoning the office of COAS by Gen Musharraf was an issue for candidates of the coveted post and not a constitutional one, he said.

However, he warned that the MMA would 'hold by neck the people who would violate the agreement', a clear reference to the government-MMA deal on the LFO issue.

Mr Baloch denied that the alliance had promised to support the government on the NSC issue.

"Talks on the LFO had rather prolonged only because the MMA had refused to budge on the separation of the president and the COAS offices and instituting the NSC under an act of parliament instead of making it a constitutional body," he claimed.

He also denied that the government had contacted them to re-initiate any dialogue on extending the date for separating the two offices.

Mr Baloch believed that the Patriots and others were raising the issue to make controversial a settled subject only to divert attention of the masses from the government failure in controlling the problems of unemployment, price-hike, law and order, etc.

The MMA leader said the government had not neither approached the alliance for the NSC nor had the latter promised to vote for it as was being propagated by certain elements.

The alliance had rather suggested renaming of the NSC as the advisory council with prime minister as its head and ministers of defence, foreign and interior as its members instead of the three services chiefs, he said.

Moreover, all decisions of the council would have to be presented before parliament for approval.

In its present form, the NSC would pave the way for interference in running the government, giving dictation to parliament, and suppressing the political and democratic process.

Answering a question, he said the MMA had already been saying that all exiled leaders should return as there was no legal bar on them in this respect.

He found no justification for Javed Hashmi's penalization but an attempt to frighten the opposition.

He told a questioner that the government was engaged in the accomplishment of the US agenda in educational, cultural, social, political, economic and other sectors.

Replying to a question, he said MMA's mass contact drive in the Punjab would start in early May as rallies and processions would be organized in big towns of the province.

About chances of a joint struggle by the MMA and the ARD against a president-in-uniform, he said the religious alliance was already going soft on bitter statements by the latter believing that the democratic forces would at last have to join hands for protecting the democratic process.