Pakistani former President Pervez Musharraf dies, aged 79

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's former president and military leader, has died in Dubai aged 79 after a long illness, the Pakistani army said on Sunday.

Senior military chiefs "express heartfelt condolences on sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf," a brief statement released by the military's media wing said. "May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family."

Musharraf, the four-star general who ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999, died in a hospital after spending years in self-imposed exile.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Arif Alvi, and politicians also extended their condolences to the family. 

Musharraf's body will be brought to Pakistan for burial on a special flight from Dubai on Monday, local TV channel Geo News reported.

Reactions to Musharraf's death

"He is called a military dictator, but there has never been a stronger democratic system than that under him," said former close Musharraf aide Fawad Chaudhry, a leader of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party.

"He gave Pakistan a free media and he stressed on diversity of opinion in Pakistan," Chaudhry said in a video message, adding that history will always remember Musharraf.

Meanwhile, Indian politician Shashi Tharoor said that Musharraf, once "an implacable foe of India," became "a real force for peace" in 2002-2007. "I met him annually in those days at the UN and found him smart, engaging and clear in his strategic thinking," Tharoor wrote on Twitter.

From New Delhi to Pakistan

Born in New Delhi in 1943, Musharraf was four years old when his parents joined the mass exodus by Muslims to the newly created state of Pakistan. 

He joined the army at the age of 18 and went on to lead an elite commando unit before rising to become its chief. He took power in 1999 by ousting the then-prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who had tried to sack him for greenlighting an operation to invade Indian-held areas of Kashmir, bringing Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Musharraf became one of Washington’s most important allies after the attacks. That helped legitimize his rule overseas but also helped plunge Pakistan into a bloody war against local extremist militant groups.

Downfall of Musharraf

Under Musharraf, foreign investment flourished and Pakistan saw annual economic growth of as much as 7.5%. He also attempted to usher in socially liberal values in the conservative Muslim country. The later years of his presidency were, however, overshadowed by his increasingly authoritarian rule and waves of violence.

In 2008, the country's first democratic elections in 11 years were held. Musharraf's party lost and facing impeachment by parliament he resigned from the presidency and fled to London.

He returned to Pakistan in 2013 to run for a seat in parliament but was immediately disqualified. He was allowed to leave for Dubai in 2016.

 Three years later, he was sentenced to death in absentia for treason, related to his 2007 decision to impose emergency rule. However, a court later nullified the ruling.

dh/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)