MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - A newly retired army general was sworn in as president of the Pakistan-ruled part of disputed Kashmir on Saturday.
Major-General Mohammad Anwar, who retired as the army's vice-chief of general staff in July, replaced veteran politician Sardar Ibrahim Khan, who has completed his five-year term.
The president is only a figurehead within a parliamentary system in which the prime minister wields executive powers.
Previous rules had barred state employees from holding public office within two years of retirement.
The swift emergence of a general to become president surprised many local politicians.
Some have voiced fears the move could erode the region's local autonomy which Pakistan often cites in its dispute over Kashmir with arch-rival India.
Pakistan rules just over a third of Kashmir with India holding about 45 percent and China the rest.
The disputed Himalayan region has triggered two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.
Anwar was nominated as president by the newly-elected government controlled by the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC).
In his oath, Anwar pledged to remain faithful to the idea of accession of the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan.
``I want to assure my countrymen, including the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir, that they are not alone in their hour of trial and tribulation...our hearts beat with their hearts and their wounds are our wounds,'' Anwar said at the swearing-in ceremony.
Separatist violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir has surged in recent months, particularly after last month's summit between India and Pakistan failed to produce concrete results.
The liberation war has claimed at least 30,000 lives since 1989. Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000.
Anwar pledged to continue supporting the struggle for self-determination in Kashmir.
Although Pakistan-ruled Kashmir has its own constitution and assembly it cannot act independently from the Pakistan government.