Musharraf photographed in Islamabad in 2013, in a political act /
Four-star general, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and was ousted from power in 2008
Former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf died this Sunday in a Dubai hospital after suffering a long illness and years of self-exile. The Pakistani army and the country’s legation in the United Arab Emirates announced the death of the 79-year-old former army chief politician, who was ousted from power in 2008.
The politician’s family had announced last June that Musharraf was admitted to the American Hospital in Dubai due to a worsening of the amyloidosis he suffered from. “I can confirm that he passed away this morning,” Shazia Siraj, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani consulate in Dubai and the embassy in Abu Dhabi, told Reuters. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Arif Alvi and the heads of Pakistan’s army, navy and air force have expressed their condolences. For this Monday a special flight has been chartered to Dubai to take Musharraf’s body back to Pakistan, where he will be buried.
Musharraf, a four-star general who had fought two wars against India and headed the high command of Pakistan’s armed forces, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999. He oversaw rapid economic growth and tried to introduce social values liberals in the conservative Muslim country. The dictator enjoyed strong support for many years, with the biggest threat from him being Al Qaeda and other Islamist militants who tried to kill him on at least three occasions.
But the heavy hand with which the military used to quell dissent, its continued support for the United States in its fight against al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban ultimately brought about its downfall. “He is called a military dictator, but there has never been a stronger democratic system than under his rule,” said Fawad Chaudhry, a former close aide to Musharraf and leader of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party. “He gave Pakistan a free media and emphasized the diversity of opinion in Pakistan,” Chaudhry added in a video message. “History will always remember you.”
Musharraf joined what Washington called its “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Pakistan provided US forces with ground and air access to landlocked Afghanistan to pursue al Qaeda militants identified as behind the plot.
US ally against Islamism
This support ran counter to Pakistan’s policy of supporting the Taliban, which then and now controls neighboring Afghanistan. This made Musharraf a target for the Islamists and caused him to lose support among the conservative elements of the country, in which he would end up declaring a state of emergency in November 2007 and the one who would leave the presidency in August 2008, the day before he his dismissal will be voted on in the National Assembly.
In March 2012, Musharraf returned to the country with the aim of leading his party in the legislative elections, but a court disqualified him from the electoral race and he was exposed to a battery of charges against him for his actions while in power. . He was sentenced to death ‘in absentia’, for treason, on December 17, 2019.