- Former dictator likely to go into exile as Saudi king is sending foreign minister on Monday to negotiate deal with Nawaz govt
- APML official says the general can die but will never go into exile
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has finally yielded to the longstanding demand of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz of going ‘soft’ on former president Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Reportedly, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal’s visit scheduled for Monday has been arranged for the purpose.
A source privy to the developments told Pakistan Today that the foreign minister will meet Nawaz to seek ‘concessions’ for Musharraf and during his visit, he is also likely to meet the former president at AFIC as well. The source maintained that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief is now ready to assist Musharraf if he agrees to go into another self-exile.
“During his meeting with Saud Al Faisal, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will seek support from the Saudi emissary to use his good office and convince Musharraf to leave the country, as the general may not be able to defend himself from judiciary while being in Pakistan,” the source said, adding that according to the government’s calculations, the judges were ‘defiant’ and Musharraf may have to face the music if the treason trial continued in the special court.
‘BEHAVE WITH MY BROTHER’:
The source said that despite repeated requests made by Nawaz and his financial team for aid and provision of petroleum supplies on cheaper rates, the Saudi administration did not agree for any support until Nawaz and company “behave with Musharraf”.
“On more than two occasions, King Abdullah had told Nawaz to deal with Musharraf cautiously as he regarded the latter as his brother,” another source told Pakistan Today, adding that Nawaz wanted to go ahead with Musharraf’s trial to ‘avenge’ his own humiliation at the hands of the former dictator.
“Nawaz wanted to pardon the former army chief after convicting him of treason – the way Musharraf had pardoned Nawaz in 2001. With this pardon, Nawaz wanted to set a new precedence for the next generation of the army chiefs to avert any chances of military takeovers. Also, by pardoning Musharraf he would stand tall against the former dictator,” the source added.
NOT THE FIRST TIME:
This is not the first time that the Saudi king has come to Musharraf’s rescue. He had also invited Musharraf to meet him in London in 2009 on a special Saudi aircraft.
During the visit, the Saudi monarch had also hosted an official Iftar dinner for Musharraf, advising him not to return to Pakistan, warning him of the then Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s rulers’ ‘wrath’.
Before his final departure for Pakistan in 2012, Musharraf again visited King Abdullah and urged him to seek guarantees from Nawaz for his safety. At that time, King Abdullah had nothing much to offer but his advice to not return. Musharraf however ignored his advice and came to Pakistan.
‘MUSH WILL NOT RUN’:
Responding to the recent developments, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Information Secretary Aasia Ishaq told Pakistan Today, “Musharraf can die but will not leave Pakistan at any cost.”
“Though president Musharraf is hospitalised in AFIC and his condition is very serious, he will not leave Pakistan at any cost. He will prefer death over any forced exile as my leader is a brave man and he will not bow down to any backdoor conspiracy to shift him abroad in the name of treatment,” she asserted.
The APML information secretary said that Musharraf was ‘quite healthy’ till Wednesday evening but his health started deteriorating following the comments by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge the same day.
“Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of IHC in a case for provision of security to former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had remarked that security was not being provided to the former CJP who had upheld the constitution while a person (read Musharraf) who had abrogated the constitution was being given high profile security at his farmhouse.
“These remarks made Musharraf worrisome and despite provision of medicines, his health situation did not improve,” she said, adding that such a ‘biased’ judiciary could not ensure provision of justice to Musharraf who had not been convicted in any case till date.
She deplored that the media was also biased against her leader and since Thursday morning, negative commentary was being run by TV channels and certain media houses were involved in nefarious propaganda against him.