US media citing credible sources claimed Wednesday that the former president Pervez Musharraf will soon leave Pakistan for medical treatment.
In separate reports Los Angeles Times and CBSNEWS quoting unnamed security and intelligence officials claimed that Musharraf may leave the country by the end of this month.
Pakistan’s former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf is expected to leave the country for medical treatment in exile, avoiding treason charges and returning to a life away from his home country by the end of January, claimed US media citing family member.
“It is good for everybody — including Musharraf — that he would go out of the country,” LA Times quoted a senior security official in Islamabad, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Similarly, CBSNEWS also quoted unnamed family member and intelligence official, “I am under the impression the Army may try to discourage the government from putting one of its former chiefs on trial,” adding that “He is, after all, in a military hospital right now. From there he is more than likely to go into exile for purposes of medical treatment.”
One of Musharraf’s cousins told US media that the former leader’s doctors were already seeking medical appointments for him in Britain during the second half of January, “to make certain that the treatment begins as soon as he lands in the UK.”
Last Thursday, Musharraf was rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, after complaining of chest pains while being driven to the court where his high treason trial was due to begin.
The special court trying Musharraf said Tuesday it was examining a medical report to decide whether Musharraf can be excused from appearing in court while he remains hospitalised.
The treason charges, which carry the death penalty or life imprisonment under Pakistan’s laws, relate to events in 2007 when Musharraf, while serving as Pakistan’s president and military commander, imposed a nationwide state of emergency and oversaw the arrests of several judges and civil society activists.