Pakistan's ailing former military ruler Pervez Musharraf dies in UAE

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's ailing former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has died in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday at the age of 79.

Musharraf, who seized power in 1999 in a bloodless coup, resigned as president in 2008 rather than face impeachment by parliament.

He left Pakistan in 2016 for Dubai to seek medical treatment and was living there in self-imposed exile.

Musharraf's ailment was identified as amyloidosis.

His family said last year that recovery was not possible as his organs were malfunctioning.

Pakistan's top political and military leaders, including President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, offered their condolences on Musharraf's passing.

Pakistanis remain divided over his legacy, which was dominated by his alliance with former US president George W. Bush and the US "war on terror".

Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former federal information minister, said although Musharraf was deemed a military dictator, he was a patriot and acted in a democratic manner while providing leadership in very difficult circumstances.

"He gave Pakistan free media, (and) he promoted diversity of opinion," Fawad said.

Many also credit Musharraf for creating a business-friendly climate in the country.

Musharraf was born in August 1943 in Delhi in British India, with his family migrating to Pakistan after the country's partition in 1947.

He lived in Turkiye for seven years until 1956 as his father was posted there as a diplomat.

Thereafter, his family settled in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and commercial hub.

Musharraf overthrew then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 after Nawaz sacked him as army chief, a post to which he was appointed in 1998.

He first assumed the title of "chief executive" and then secured a five-year presidential term in a controversial national referendum in 2002.

-- BERNAMA