Alwaght- Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, died on Sunday at hospital after years of self-imposed exile in Dubai.
Musharraf, 79, succumbed to Amyloidosis after being hospitalized for months due to health complications. Pakistan's military and the country's mission in the United Arab Emirates confirmed the death of the former president.
"I can confirm that he passed away this morning," Shazia Siraj, spokesperson for Pakistan's consulate in Dubai and embassy in Abu Dhabi, told Reuters.
Musharraf was born before partition on August 11, 1943, in Delhi and completed his early education at St Patrick's High School in Karachi. He pursued higher education at Forman Christian College in Lahore.
Later, he entered the military and became a member of an elite commando unit from where he worked onward to become Pakistan's Top General. He seized power with a military coup, deposing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and sending him into exile. He then declared himself the president of Pakistan.
Musharraf was Pakistan’s president between 2001 and 2008, when he suffered defeat in the polls. He left the country six months later.
In 2013, Musharraf returned to Pakistan to contest the election, however, he was arrested and barred from standing. He was charged with high treason and was sentenced to death in absentia only for the decision to be overturned.
Musharraf left Pakistan for Dubai in 2016 to seek medical treatment and had been living in exile in the UAE ever since.
In 2019, a Pakistani court sentenced him for treason over his 2007 imposition of emergency rule. However, the ruling was overturned by a court in the long-running case.
He was the tenth president of Pakistan from 1999 to 2007 and served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan (CJCSC) from 1998 to 2001.
The controversial man of war was considered a staunch US ally and maintained close military ties with the Washington during his time in power.
