Pakistan's Musharraf "determined" to remove uniform

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday he was determined to quit as army chief and become a civilian president, amid mounting pressure from the United States to end emergency rule and return to democracy.

"I am determined to execute this third stage of transition fully and I'm determined to remove my uniform once we correct these pillars in judiciary and the executive and the parliament," he told foreign diplomats in comments broadcast on state-run Pakistan Television.

Musharraf declared emergency rule and suspended the constitution on Saturday, citing a hostile judiciary and rising militancy. He has since purged the Supreme Court and ordered the arrest of hundreds of opponents, but the government says national elections will take place by mid-January as scheduled.