Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf escaped unhurt when two vans entered his convoy and exploded outside a petrol pump in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

But seven others were killed and 12 injured in the attack, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Pakistan TV.

CNN reported that one of the vehicles had entered in front of the motorcade and the other, at the back.

The windshield of the president's car was damaged, Pakistani officials were quoted as saying. Two other vehicles at the end of Musharraf's motorcade were badly damaged.

"It was quite a narrow escape," military spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan told BBC World television.

The blast occurred not far from the spot where terrorists detonated a bomb on December 14 to assassinate Musharraf.

The latest attack came a day after Musharraf agreed to step down as army chief by the end of 2004.

The Pakistani leader has earned the wrath of fundamentalists in his country for cooperating with the United States in its war on terrorism.