Officials say Musharraf could leave Pakistan within days: Report
Senior security official says it will be good for everybody if Musharraf leaves country.
Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: AFP
Officials close to the security services said former president Pervez Musharraf could leave the country within days, Los Angeles Times reported.
“It is good for everybody — including Musharraf — that he would go out of the country,” a senior security official in Islamabad said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Musharraf's name is currently on the Exit Control List (ECL) and while he can move around freely in the country, he is not permitted to leave Pakistan.
The former president is due to face treason charges under Article 6 for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.
The 70-year-old was taken ill and rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on January 2 as he was being transported under heavy guard to the Special Court.
Musharraf’s wife, Begum Sehba Musharraf, had requested the government to remove his name from the ECL as his medics and aides considered shifting him abroad for treatment. However, the government had refused to entertain this request.
On January 6, the Shuhada Foundation of Lal Masjid had also submitted a request in the Islamabad High Court to stop Musharraf from leaving the country. The court had said the former military ruler cannot exit the country without its approval, adding that others should not interfere in matters of the court.
Malik weighs in
“When you allow an army chief in uniform to run for presidential elections, that means that you recognize him as a president in the uniform,” former interior minister Rehman Malik said.
When asked if he thinks Musharraf will leave the country soon, Malik said he would not believe this to be true until it actually happened.
“It is good for everybody — including Musharraf — that he would go out of the country,” a senior security official in Islamabad said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Musharraf's name is currently on the Exit Control List (ECL) and while he can move around freely in the country, he is not permitted to leave Pakistan.
The former president is due to face treason charges under Article 6 for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.
The 70-year-old was taken ill and rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on January 2 as he was being transported under heavy guard to the Special Court.
Musharraf’s wife, Begum Sehba Musharraf, had requested the government to remove his name from the ECL as his medics and aides considered shifting him abroad for treatment. However, the government had refused to entertain this request.
On January 6, the Shuhada Foundation of Lal Masjid had also submitted a request in the Islamabad High Court to stop Musharraf from leaving the country. The court had said the former military ruler cannot exit the country without its approval, adding that others should not interfere in matters of the court.
Malik weighs in
“When you allow an army chief in uniform to run for presidential elections, that means that you recognize him as a president in the uniform,” former interior minister Rehman Malik said.
When asked if he thinks Musharraf will leave the country soon, Malik said he would not believe this to be true until it actually happened.