Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Dies at 79 After Prolonged Illness

Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf dies after prolonged illness at Dubai hospital. He was 79

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Former President General Pervez Musharraf (Retired) died at the age of 79 after a prolonged illness, at a hospital in Dubai, as per Pakistan’s Geo News. The former four-star general, who was in Dubai since March 2016, was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis, a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein, called amyloid, builds up in your organs and interferes with their normal function.

As per local media reports quoting his family members, Musharraf was hospitalised for a couple of weeks due to a complication of his ailment. The former president has been in UAE for the last eight years getting medical treatment. Earlier, Musharraf expressed his desire to spend the “rest of his life” in his home country, local media reported.

Musharraf was the tenth president of the South Asian nation after the successful military coup in 1999. He served as the 10th CJCSC from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th top general from 1998 to 2007.

Born on August 11, 1943, in New Delhi, India, Musharraf was the middle son of a diplomat. His family joined millions of other Muslims in fleeing westward when predominantly Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan split during independence from Britain in 1947. The partition saw hundreds of thousands of people killed in riots and fighting.

Musharraf entered the Pakistani army at age 18 and made his career there as Islamabad fought three wars against India. He’d launch his own attempt at seizing territory in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in 1999 just before seizing power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.