Pervez Musharraf’s body to be flown to Pakistan shortly

ISLAMABAD (AFP): The body of Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is expected to be repatriated on Monday.

Musharraf, who left Pakistan in 2016 for medical treatment after a travel ban was lifted, died on Sunday aged 79 in Dubai after a long illness. Senior officials who asked not to be named said his body would be repatriated on Monday, with a burial expected later in the day.

Musharraf seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup and was acting simultaneously as Pakistan’s army chief, chief executive and president when the 9/11 attacks on the United States took place. He had been suffering from a rare disease known as Amyloidosis and last summer his family said he had no chance of recovery.

Senior military chiefs “express heartfelt condolences on sad demise of Gen Pervez Musharraf,” a brief statement released by the military’s media wing said on Sunday.