He succumbed to a long illness. Former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf died at the age of 79 in Dubai, where he was hospitalized, local media reported on Sunday.
Senior military officials “express their sincere condolences on the death of General Pervez Musharraf”, according to a brief statement issued by the army press service. “May Allah bless the soul of the deceased and give strength to the bereaved family.”
Following a non-violent coup in 1999, after then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to remove him as army chief, General Pervez Musharraf arrived in the head of the country in 2001 and led Pakistan for almost 10 years, recalls Sky News. Confirmed in his functions during a controversial referendum in 2002, this former elite commando, born in Delhi on August 11, 1943 was, at the same time, chief of staff of the armies, until his re-election in 2007.
Sentenced to death in 2019
Soon after he came to power, the country’s economy improved. He has also won international favor by reforming Pakistan, notably by pushing for legislation defending women’s rights and media plurality.
After the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States, in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Pervez Musharraf aligned his country with Washington’s positions. He then presented himself as a regional bulwark against Al-Qaeda, whose leaders, allies of the Taliban, had found refuge in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. He survived at least three assassination attempts by the terrorist group.
He eventually lost popularity due to his repeated use of the military to quell dissent and try to hold on to power, the “illegal” dismissal of Supreme Court justices who opposed him, and the imposition of a state of emergency – a very unpopular measure which will earn him a death sentence for “high treason” at the end of 2019, finally canceled by justice. He was also blamed for the bloody assault on heavily armed Islamists who had taken refuge in the Red Mosque in Islamabad in the summer of 2007.
Return attempts
The former president has also been accused of being responsible for the 2007 murder of his political rival, Benazir Bhutto. If she had been killed in a suicide attack carried out by a young suicide bomber, a UN report had judged in 2010 that the government of Musharraf had not provided adequate protection to the former Prime Minister.
At the height of his unpopularity, under pressure from justice and the victorious coalition at the polls, ready to launch impeachment proceedings against him, the general was forced to resign in August 2008, then went into exile. voluntarily in London and then in Dubai.
In March 2013, he ended his years away from his country in order to participate in the elections and “save” Pakistan from economic slump and Taliban peril. But his ambitions to return to politics had been greeted with disdain by the Pakistanis and quickly shattered by multiple legal proceedings. He was finally not allowed to stand in the legislative elections, won by Nawaz Sharif, the man he had deposed 14 years earlier. Nostalgic, he had announced his return several times before changing his mind for fear of being imprisoned upon his arrival. It was ultimately in exile that he died.