The former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf (2001-2008) has died in Dubai, at the age of 79, after a prolonged illness, the army announced this Sunday.
Military officials “express their sincerest condolences on the death of General Pervez Musharraf,” according to a brief statement from the army press office.
“May Allah bless the soul of the deceased and give strength to the grieving family,” he added.
Musharraf, who was one of the allies of the United States in its “war against terrorism” after the attacks of September 11, came to power after a coup in 1999, remaining at the head of Pakistan until 2008.
An admirer of Napoleon and Richard Nixon, he took office as President of the Republic in 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks.
After these terrorist attacks, he aligned his country with Washington’s positions, thus presenting himself as a regional bulwark against Al-Qaeda, whose leaders, allied with the Taliban, took refuge in the border areas with Afghanistan.
Musharraf has survived at least three assassination attempts by al-Qaeda. During the nine years he was in power, Pakistan saw the economy take off, the middle class grow, the media liberalize and the army play its appeasement card with India.
However, his opponents have repeatedly denounced his way of dominating power, pointing to the “illegal” dismissal of Supreme Court judges, the imposition of a state of emergency or the bloody attack, in the summer of 2007, against heavily armed Islamists. who took refuge in the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
Former elite commando Pervez Musharraf, born in Delhi on August 11, 1943, four years before Pakistan’s secession, took command of the army’s General Staff when he overthrew the civilian government of Nawas Sharif in October 1999. , in a bloodless coup.
He declared himself president in June 2001, before winning a controversial referendum in April 2002, making him Pakistan’s last military leader.
Source: TSF
