The head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Lieutenant General Ehsanul Haq, was upgraded to general and appointed Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said.

The military commander of southern Sindh province, Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, was promoted to general and appointed the army's vice chief, it said quoting the military spokesman's office without giving any further details.

They will replace the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Aziz Khan, and Vice Chief of army staff, General Yusuf Khan, who are retiring this month.

In June, gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying Hayat, killing seven soldiers, three policemen and a pedestrian but missing the senior general in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi.

Officials have blamed Al-Qaeda-linked group Jund Allah, or Army of God, for the attack.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf still heads the powerful army and wears a four-star general's uniform.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999, is under pressure to keep his promise he made last December to leave the army as part of a deal with opposition lawmakers that would allow him to remain president through 2007.

But the general indicated recently he might renege on his pledge and remain army chief because his leadership was still required to deal with several key outstanding issues, including fighting terrorism.

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