The retired general said army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani could be forced to intervene against the goverment of President Asif Ali Zardari which he said had failed to tackle rampant extremist militancy and a crumbling economy.

Musharraf — who himself came to power in a coup in 1999 and has lived in London since quitting in 2008 — cited as evidence a reported crisis meeting this week between Kayani, Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Asked whether he thought there was a likelihood of a new coup, he told the Intelligence Squared debating forum in London “Well, you see the photographs of the meeting with the president and the prime minister and I can assure you they were not discussing the weather.

“There was a serious discussion of some kind or other and certainly at this moment all kinds of pressures must be on this army chief.”

The 67-year-old said similar “pressures” when he was head of the army in the nuclear-armed Islamic republic from 1998 to 1999 had led him to launch the coup against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

“In that one year Pakistan was going down and a number of people, including politicians, women, men, came to me telling me 'Why are you not acting? Are you going to act for Pakistan's good?” Musharraf said.

“Now I am in a dilemma — the army chief, what does he do? There is no constitutional provision, what does he do?”

Musharraf confirmed that he would launch a new political party in London on Friday to contest the next elections in 2013 but refused to say when he would return to Pakistan, where he could face treason charges.

He said Zardari's government had failed adequately to deal with Pakistan's moribund economy, the threat from Taliban militants, and the after effects from devastating floods earlier this year.

Pakistan's powerful military has ruled the country for over half of the country's existence since independence from Britain in 1947. —AFP