Pakistan's ex-president Pervez Musharraf dies aged 79 after prolonged illness

Former Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, has died at hospital after years of self-imposed exile in Dubai. He was 79.

Local news outlets on Sunday quoted his family members as saying that the former leader succumbed to Amyloidosis after being hospitalized for months due to health complications. Pakistan's military and the country's mission in the United Arab Emirates also confirmed the death of the former president. 

"I can confirm that he passed away this morning," Shazia Siraj, spokesperson for Pakistan's consulate in Dubai and embassy in Abu Dhabi, told Reuters.

Musharraf was born before partition on August 11, 1943, in Delhi and completed his early education at St Patrick's High School in Karachi. He pursued higher education at Forman Christian College in Lahore.

Later, he entered the military and became a member of an elite commando unit from where he worked onward to become Pakistan's Top General. He seized power with a military coup, deposing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and sending him into exile. He then declared himself the president of Pakistan.

Musharraf was Pakistan’s president between 2001 and 2008, when he suffered defeat in the polls. He left the country six months later.

In 2013, Musharraf returned to Pakistan to contest the election, however, he was arrested and barred from standing. He was charged with high treason and was sentenced to death in absentia only for the decision to be overturned.

Musharraf left Pakistan for Dubai in 2016 to seek medical treatment and had been living in exile in the UAE ever since.

ME