Critically-ill Musharraf may be flown to Pakistan

Lahore: Pakistan’s exmilitary dictator General Pervez Musharraf, who is in a UAE hospital in a critical condition with no possibility of recovery, may be brought back to the country in an air ambulance as the Army stands by its former chief, a media report said on Tuesday.

Gen. Musharraf, 78, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, was charged with high treason and given a death sentence in 2019 for suspending the Constitution. His death sentence was later suspended.

The powerful military establishment has offered the family of the former president that it can facilitate the return of Gen. Musharraf if it wishes, Dunya TV reported. “The military contacted the family of Gen. Musharraf and offered its help in his treatment and bringing him back home,” it said.

He may be brought back to the country in an air ambulance, the report said. “All arrangements to bring Gen. Musharraf back to Pakistan (are) being made after family’s consent and doctors’ advice. This includes the air ambulance… The institution (of the Army) stands by its exchief,” TV anchor Kamran Shahid said in a tweet.

His family has confirmed that the ex-general is in hospital and his recovery is not possible. “Gen Musharraf has been hospitalised for the last three weeks due to a complication of his ailment (Amyloidosis). (He is) Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” his family said in a statement on Friday.

Amyloidosis is a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with the normal function. He was diagnosed with the life-threatening disease Amyloidosis in 2018 in the UAE. Gen. Musharraf had left for Dubai in March 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since.

He was declared a fugitive in the assassination case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the Red Mosque cleric killing case. In 2020, the Lahore High Court declared “unconstitutional” all actions taken by the Nawaz Sharif government against Musharraf, including the filing of a complaint on high treason charge and the formation of a special court as well as its proceedings, leading to the abolition of the death penalty handed down to him by the trial court. In 2019, a special court sentenced him to death.

On Saturday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: “In view of General Musharraf ’s ill health, there should be no obstacle for him to return home. Past events should not be allowed to interfere in this regard. May Allah give them health and they can spend their time with dignity in this part of life”. It was the first public statement by a senior minister from the Shehbaz Sharif government after Musharraf ’s health condition was made public.

On Tuesday, federal minister Javed Latif told a private TV channel if Musharraf is brought back, he would face cases against him. “We have no issue if Musharraf is allowed to come back. But he must face cases against him,” Latif said. Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf was forced to resign as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. – PTI