Amid drawing room gossips and media claims that former president Pervez Musharraf will leave the country before Nawaz Sharif takes oath, his aides rubbished these assertions and said Musharraf will not leave the country, come what may.
Musharraf is under house arrest and his farmhouse has been declared a ‘sub-jail’ in judges’ detention case after the Taliban threatened to attack him.
When asked about TTP threat, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Secretary Information Aasia Ishaque said that General Musharraf was a brave soldier and had fought all his life.
“These threats are not new for our leader. Neither Pervez Musharraf will leave the country before formation of new government nor will he leave afterwards,” Aasia told Pakistan Today.
She said that a meeting has been summoned in this regard.
“The president (general Musharraf) will not leave the country until and unless his name is cleared in all the fake and engineered cases,” she said.
She also said Pakistanis were a brave and moderate nation and they would not be cowed down by terrorists. She said the APML leadership was planning to hold demonstrations, public rallies and meetings to expose the real faces of those who wanted to settle scores against the general.
“In a bid to press the judiciary and the newly-elected government we have planned to hold peaceful demonstrations across the country against the illegal detention of General (r) Pervez Musharraf,” she said.
Asked whether she was privy to any offer(s) made to the general from local and international establishment for provision of a safe passage to Musharraf, Aasia avoided to comment over the matter but hastened to add that Musharraf was a man with “iron nerves” and he could not be tempted.
“However, since this is the era of information and awareness, all the parties who are hell bent to punish the president (Musharraf) are being exposed to the people of Pakistan. This is a great job this powerful and defiant media is doing. We salute to the media and the civil society for exposing those who have joined hands to settle personal scores against my leader who had returned to serve the poor of Pakistan,” she maintained.
Separately, the TTP issued a fresh threat to assassinate Pervez Musharraf.
Before his arrival in March, TTP threatened to kill him for his alliance in the US-led “war on terror” and attempts to clamp down on militants, when he was in power.
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan on Sunday issued a fresh warning in a video message posted on Taliban website Umar Media, saying, “Soon we will punish this Satan to death for his wicked deed.”
Musharraf went to the top of the Taliban hit list after ordering the army in 2007 to storm Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The operation left more than 100 people dead and opened the floodgates to attacks in Pakistan.
“From Balochistan to Waziristan, Musharraf threw this country in blood and fire, he is the killer of hundreds of innocent students of Lal Masjid,” Ehsan said.
A court on Wednesday refused bail to Musharraf over the detention of judges.
The ruling came two days after a court granted him bail over the murder of Benazir, who was killed in a gun and bomb attack in 2007.
Musharraf escaped three assassination attempts when in office from 1999 to 2008, a target of extremists because of his alliance in the war on terror and attempts to flush out militants.
Musharraf will not leave country: APML
