ISLAMABAD, 27 December 2003 — A day after President Pervez Musharraf survived the second attempt on his life in two weeks, the Parliament assembled yesterday to debate a deal that would keep him in power until 2007 if he gives up his military post.

Musharraf struck the deal with hard-line Islamic opponents on Wednesday to step down as army chief by the end of 2004 to resolve a row over his powers that all but paralyzed Parliament.

The prospect of such a deal, to be sealed by a vote of confidence in Musharraf expected on Jan. 1, does not appear to have pleased all Islamists.

Musharraf blamed Muslim extremists for Thursday’s attack on his motorcade by suicide car bombers in the city of Rawalpindi that killed at least 15 people, including the bombers.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said investigators had found the mutilated head of one of the bombers and were trying to prepare a sketch from it.

Intelligence officials said several people had been detained for questioning, but refused to give details. However, they said they did not rule out the possibility of involvement of Islamists within the ranks of the armed forces.

In the past, lower-ranking military officials have been arrested for sheltering extremists and ties with militants.

Analysts have questioned how attackers could have obtained details of Musharraf’s movements to allow them to mount two attacks on his motorcades in so short a time in Rawalpindi, a garrison city and headquarters of the Pakistan Army.

Musharraf told Reuters a few days after the Dec. 14 attack that it could have been the work of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. He said he believed “destiny” had shielded him.

The list of Musharraf’s enemies has lengthened since he took a front-line role in the US-led war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States two years ago.

He has angered militants by dropping support for Afghanistan’s former Taleban regime.