Former president Pervaiz Musharraf, currently living in self-exile in Britain and Dubai, has contacted two security agencies based in the US and UK for providing security to him upon his return to Pakistan early next year.
Musharraf has convened a meeting of officials of his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), from Pakistan, US, Canada and Britain in Dubai on September 18 in which he will give a final shape to his proposed homecoming and other matters, sources close to the former military ruler said. Though Musharraf has announced that he will return to Pakistan on March 23 next year, some officials of his party are expected to ask him at tomorrow’s meeting to review the situation in the country before making a final decision, the sources said.
“Musharraf is keen to return home no matter what may come. For this purpose, he is finalising his security arrangements in Pakistan with two security agencies from the US and UK,” APML spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said, adding that the army will also provide security to Musharraf. Musharraf will also consult party officials about his plan to make Dubai the APML’s headquarters till his return to Pakistan.
“Musharraf is considering shifting to Dubai from next month to look after party affairs from there,” Chaudhry said. Some members of the APML believe that court cases against Musharraf are the main hurdle to his plans to return to Pakistan. However, in the hope of settling some of the cases before his likely return, Musharraf’s wife Sehba has already challenged an anti-terrorism court’s decision of confiscating the property of the former president.
The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi last month ordered the seizure of Musharraf’s moveable and immoveable assets and the freezing of his bank accounts while declaring him a fugitive for failing to cooperate with investigators probing the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.