Ex Pak Prez Pervez Musharraf dies aged 79

On Sunday morning, Former President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf (Retd) took his last breath in a hospital in Dubai at the age of 79.

The former leader's body will be flown back from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan via a special flight after his family submitted an application to do so.

He left Pakistan for Dubai in 2016 to seek medical treatment and had been living in exile in the country ever since.

In the statement confirming the death, the military said it expressed its "heartfelt condolences" and added: "May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family."

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi prayed "for eternal rest of the departed soul and courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss", his office said in a statement cited by AFP.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his condolences, as did the country's military leaders.

Musharraf's rule was characterised by extremes. He was credited by some with turning around the economic fortunes of the country while leader.

But his career was also marred by controversy, including accusations of failing to provide adequate security for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose assassination by the Taliban in 2007 shocked Pakistan and the world.

His career ultimately ended in disgrace and arrest, when he was sentenced to death in absentia for treason in 2019. Though that sentencing was later reversed, he never returned to Pakistan.