Pakistan on Wednesday named Lt Gen Raheel Sharif, an infantry officer regarded as a moderate, as the new Army chief to succeed hawkish Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani who retires on Friday after serving an extended tenure in the all-powerful post.

57-year-old Sharif, who comes from a family of soldiers and whose elder brother died in the 1971 war with India, was chosen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to end several months of speculation.