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Musharraf returns, says he wants to ‘save’ Pakistan

Karachi, March 24
Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf today ended nearly four years in self-exile defying threats of arrest and assassination by Taliban, saying that he returned home to "save" Pakistan and would face all "challenges" that lay ahead.

4-yr exile ends Musharraf’s chartered flight from Dubai landed at Jinnah International airport in Karachi. He was accompanied by a 150-member delegation comprising his supporters and journalists Clad in an off-white salwar-kameez, Musharraf said he would soon be launching a countrywide campaign of public rallies and media interaction Musharraf had left Pakistan on April 19, 2009, saying he was going abroad for a series of lectures. He did not return from that trip and several courts issued arrest warrants for the former President in connection with the killings of Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti.

Musharraf (69) along with a delegation of around 150 persons, including supporters from his All Pakistan Muslim League and journalists, landed at Jinnah International airport here by a chartered Emirates flight from Dubai. Talking to reporters accompanying him from Dubai to Karachi, a smiling Musharraf said: "It is (a) very emotional (moment). I'm going back after four years."

"There are a lot of challenges. There are security challenges, legal challenges, political challenges. But I will face them," Musharraf clad in an off-white salwar-kameez said as he made his way out of the aircraft. "Where are the people who said I will never return home. I have been receiving death threats and some people have been trying to scare me but I have returned home for the sake of my country and people," an emotional Musharraf told his supporters.

The former commando-turned-politician said he would soon be launching a countrywide campaign of public rallies and media interaction. "I have taken a big risk returning home now. But tears come to my eyes seeing the state of the country now. I ask where is the Pakistan I had left five years ago," he said.

"People have tried to sabotage my first public rally in Karachi and already hurdles are being created for me but I am ready to face all challenges whether they are security, political or legal issues," Musharraf said.

He claimed he had been implicated in a lot of cases while in exile but he was ready to face them as he wanted to see Pakistan prosper. Musharraf had left Pakistan on April 19, 2009, saying he was going abroad for a series of lectures. He didn’t return from that trip and several courts issued arrest warrants for the former President in connection with the killings of Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti. Since then, Musharraf has been shuttling between London and Dubai and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars on worldwide lecture tours. On March 22, the Sindh High Court granted a 10 day pre-arrest bail to Musharraf in several cases in some of which he has been declared a proclaimed offender. Yesterday, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan threatened to use suicide bombers to target Musharraf when he returns home.

Earlier members of his party had said security officials had advised Musharraf to not hold the press conference or address any rally because of security threats to his life. "But after hours of negotiations, the former President made it clear he will not leave the terminal building without first addressing the media and his supporters who have come in thousands to welcome him home," party spokesman Arif Ishaq said.

Musharraf is expected to stay in Karachi for two days before going to Islamabad where he ruled the country as chief executive and then President from 1999 to 2008. But it was noticeable at the airport that the former President still has a lot of followers and admirers among the people despite the cases pending against him in the courts and his self-imposed exile. — PTI