KARACHI: Former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf yesterday asked a court to let him leave the country to visit his sick mother in Dubai, legal sources said.
Musharraf is facing four major criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule of the nuclear-armed nation, including one related to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Yesterday’s move could open the way for the 70-year-old to leave Pakistan before his cases are completed, saving the powerful military the embarrassment of having its former chief tried and potentially sentenced by civilian courts.
He is on bail in all four cases, though he remains under guard at his Islamabad farmhouse because of Taliban threats to his life. But he is unable to leave Pakistan as his name appears on the government’s “exit control list”.
The 70-year-old’s lawyer A Q Hallipota yesterday filed an application with the Sindh High Court in Karachi to have his name removed from the list, court sources said.
“Since he has been bailed in all the cases against him, keeping his name on the exit control list is unjust,” Asiya Ishaq, spokesperson for Musharraf’s political party, the All-Pakistan Muslim League, said. “This is his legal right to travel anywhere as a free citizen of this country. He also wants to see his ailing mother in Dubai.” The court is expected to rule on the application on November 18. AFP
