Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf dies in Dubai

After a long bout of serious illness, former Pakistan President and chief of Army staff Pervez Musharraf died today at the American Hospital in UAE’s Dubai after spending years in self-imposed exile. He was 79.

Musharraf had been undergoing treatment for an ailment at the hospital in Dubai, according to Pakistan media reports. The former military ruler had been suffering from the rare disease amyloidosis, caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues, a Dawn report said.

Musharraf, four-star general of the Pakistan Army, assumed power after a military takeover of the government in 1999. He served as the chief executive of Pakistan from October 1999 to November 2002. He went on to become Pakistan’s tenth president, serving from June 2001 to August 2008.

Musharraf was declared a fugitive in the murder cases of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murder case and a Red Mosque cleric. He was living in Dubai since March 2016, and was facing a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007.