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ABUJA (Reuters) - The head of Nigeria's army has pledged his commitment to protecting democracy and promised to stay out of politics at a time when President Umaru Yar'Adua's two-month absence has raised questions about who is in charge.

Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau, chief of army staff, said the army had remained "neutral but absolutely committed to the survival of our nascent democracy". It would continue to do so despite what he called attempts to drag it into politics.

Yar'Adua has been in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment for a heart condition since late November but has not formally handed executive powers to his deputy, raising uncertainty about who is steering government in Africa's most populous nation.

Nigeria emerged from decades of coups and military rule 10 years ago but the military remains a potent background force, with retired generals reinventing themselves as politicians and businessmen and still pulling the strings of power.

"The barracks is not a political battlefield and our soldiers are not tools to be used for creating disunity," Dambazau said in a speech on Monday night to mark the commissioning of an army base in the capital Abuja.

"The Nigerian army affirms its commitment to its constitutional responsibilities and will continue to contribute meaningfully to the entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria."

Nigeria has seen some turbulence in Yar'Adua's absence.

Clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs killed hundreds in the central city of Jos last week, while there have been street protests and court challenges to the legality of government decision-making with the head of state away.