Pervez Musharraf, former President General (Retd) of Pakistan, died on Sunday after a prolonged illness in a Dubai hospital, according to Geo News, citing sources. He was 79.
Musharraf was being treated for an illness at an American Hospital in Dubai, the report said.
Musharraf has been declared a fugitive in the murders of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and a Red Mosque cleric. The former president, who has been living in Dubai since 2016, was charged with treason for suspending the Constitution in 2007.
The former military ruler left for Dubai for medical treatment in March 2016 and has not returned since to his country.
Musharraf was born in Delhi during the British Raj and was raised in Karachi and Istanbul. He attended Forman Christian College in Lahore and the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom, where he studied mathematics.
Musharraf enlisted in the Pakistan Army in 1964 after graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy. He served as a second lieutenant in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was commanding an artillery brigade by the 1980s.
Musharraf was promoted to major general in the 1990s and assigned an infantry division before commanding the Special Services Group. He was soon appointed deputy military secretary and director general of military operations. He played an important role in the Afghan civil war, encouraging Pakistani support for the Taliban.
Musharraf rose to national prominence after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promoted him to four-star general in 1998, making Musharraf the head of the armed forces. He led the Kargil infiltration, which triggered a war between India and Pakistan in 1999.
After months of strained relations between Sharif and Musharraf, Sharif attempted but failed to depose Musharraf as army commander. In retaliation, the army staged a coup in 1999, allowing Musharraf to become president of Pakistan in 2001. He then placed Sharif under house arrest before initiating formal criminal proceedings against him.
